


These Mortal Quandaries

by SalazzleDazzle



Series: Of Crows and Coyotes [2]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: City Age (Destiny), Fallen | Eliksni, Gen, House of Scar, Mild Language, Old Chicago, Philosophy, Six Coyotes, Slow Burn, Thanatonautics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:13:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 36,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24942118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SalazzleDazzle/pseuds/SalazzleDazzle
Summary: Fresh-faced Gunslinger Nadiya has made it to Old Chicago, where she and her caravan of refugees hope to find a way to the Last City amidst the ruins of a Golden Age spaceport. Unfortunately, plans of a quick exodus are cut short when Nadiya discovers a fireteam of Guardians already occupying the site.What follows becomes the Hunter's first mission alongside fellow Guardians: a search and rescue in the swamps of Chicago for a lost fireteam of scouts. Alongside the eccentric members of Fireteam Gamma, the Hunter will learn to brave the perils of true open combat. But first, Nadiya must understand what it means to die - a curse placed a thousand times on each and every Guardian. For amidst the ruins of the ancient city stalks a Fallen Baron with a dark history ahead of him...
Series: Of Crows and Coyotes [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1772311
Comments: 15
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This is the second story in my 'The Crow and the Coyote' series. I've designed each story to be enjoyable independent of each other, but there are some serialized aspects. Thus, I obviously encourage you to read from the top. Regardless, here is part 1 of 10 of These Mortal Quandaries, with more to follow soon! Thank you for reading!

Nadiya stood on a river bank. The smell was pungent, the heat was worse. The cold sweat on her brow seemed to reappear within seconds of her wiping it away. This was not the warmth of her Light, but a gross heat, overbearing and muggy.

The river was dark, polluted. The Hunter stared intently into the water, searching for something. Were those faces, or was that her imagination? She squinted harder, trying to understand the pained visages being pulled away by the current.

The cold sweat intensified, shivers ran down her back. This was a sick place, a dangerous place. Nadiya reached for her sidearm, but she had no weapon. She tried summoning a knife, but she had no Light. Where was Bluejay? Where were the others? What was this place? What were-

“ _Nadiya!_ ”

The Gunslinger jolted awake, sitting up so fast her head knocked into another. Tom fell backward, muttering some swears.

“Tom! I’m so sorry!”

The human rubbed his head, shaking away the pain. “Don’t worry about it.”

Nadiya pushed away her blanket and helped him back into a crouching position. The tent was too low to stand within. “I’m sorry, I was having another one of those lucid dreams. I’m not sure what causes them, but it’s always startling to-”

“Yeah, I figured.” Tom seemed disinterested. “I came by to wake you up. You were screaming in your sleep again.”

“Oh.”

Tom lifted back the flap of the tent, making his way out. “It’s not quite dawn yet, but I guess everyone’s up now. Figure we’ll pack up and head out. Not much further on the 90 ‘til we reach O’Hare.”

“Okay,” Nadiya confirmed as the tent closed back up. She rubbed her hands against her face. Another shitty wake-up call.

Bluejay appeared above her shoulder. “Chin up, Hunter!” Her ghost was a little too chipper for her mood at the moment. “You heard him, today’s the end of our journey. We’re finally gonna get these people home!”

“Easy for you to say,” the Hunter scoffed, “I’m the one doing the walking.”

* * *

As usual, Nadiya felt guilty for complaining about the trip soon after the moment of weakness. The rest of the refugees were wearing dilapidated clothing, the best of which was scavenged on the way here as a replacement only to befall the same fate. Nadiya had Light-infused boots.

It had been a long journey from the Badlands. Today was the forty-third day, nearing a month and a half. Significantly longer than Tom’s original estimate on the day they’d left. Nadiya had figured that a smaller group would’ve been able to outdo the pace set by Bruce’s caravan going the other direction. She’d figured a lot of things.

She’d figured that she’d have gotten over killing the Warlord by now, for instance. The first Risen she met upon resurrection, and she ends up killing him and his ghost. Nadiya had convinced herself it was the right thing to do, but a month of paranoid thinking can do a lot to waver an idea.

She’d also figured that the refugees that had joined up with her would’ve softened up to her by now. Yeah, she’d killed their leader, but Tom had said it best. Deep down, the people who’d joined up with Nadiya knew that living under a Warlord was no way to live. They had sought something better, and the fresh-faced Hunter had provided an opportunity.

That wasn’t panning out the way they had hoped, Nadiya imagined. The long journey to Old Chicago had been made even longer by the House of Scar. Thanks to the small size of the group, they rarely were pressed into open combat (which fell solely on the shoulders of Nadiya and Tom). But hiding for hours as skiffs patrolled overhead didn’t make for a quick trip.

Not to mention that when they were forced to fight, things hadn’t been perfect. Nadiya was still new to the whole Guardian thing, and that came with mistakes. She’d counted three times where she’d failed to activate her Golden Gun, one of which caused her to faint from exhaustion. She still missed shots with her sidearm. And she wasn’t as good of a tracker as Hunters apparently were back in the City. “A true Hunter could shoot a dreg between the eyes with a pistol from fifty meters out,” Bluejay had boasted to her. It was anything but encouraging.

Along the way, what had started as a dozen refugees had been whittled down to nine. They’d lost their horse in an ambush twenty days earlier, their supplies were diminished, and general exhaustion was creeping into the group. There hadn’t been time to mourn the lost, but Nadiya could practically feel the blame placed on her shoulders.

But today was the day. The day where all of this suffering and self-doubt would be made worth it. O’Hare Spaceport was the largest off-world emigration site in the North American Empire, larger even than those on its more populous coasts. It promised a ship that could make it a few thousand miles to the Last City. The ship didn’t have to break orbit! Nadiya was confident they’d find one, and if not, Bluejay was confident he could fix one up.

“Two more miles till our exit,” Tom announced, pointing at a worn-down sign on the highway.

There was little excitement from the rest of the group; they just wanted this to be over. They wore blank or pained faces, each step laborious but filled with purpose. Only Annie, the only child in the group, showed any kind of excitement. Nadiya hadn’t seen her smile since her horse had died.

Tom and Nadiya marched at the front, weaving their way through the rusted cars that had been abandoned on the highway. Millions of civilians had tried to reach O’Hare when the Collapse reached North America. It seemed few were successful. Most cars had skeletons, picked clean of clothes by scavengers both human and Fallen. Nadiya accidentally glanced at one every few cars, shivering in surprise without fail.

“Seems that some ships from the Exodus project were stationed at Chicago,” Bluejay mused. He floated alongside Nadiya, scanning a car every once in a while out of curiosity. “See the tallest rocket still remaining?”

It was impossible to miss. From here, some of the largest ships left behind at O’Hare were visible, the tallest of which seemed to have three bubbles stacked upon a frame supported by space shuttles attached to the bottom. Nadiya nodded to her ghost.

“The Exodus ships were planned to get humanity out of the system. In hopes of exploration, or as a last resort in case of apocalypse, I don’t know,” Bluejay explained. “But it seems whichever one was based here never got the chance to take off.”

“Well, I guess that can be our ship,” Nadiya said.

Bluejay made a noise akin to a snort. “As if! A rocket that size would take an extensive crew to operate, not just one ghost!” He flew up and looked over the group in following. “Do any of you know how to operate a Golden-Age rocket?”

“Obviously not, Bluejay,” Tom said, rolling his eyes.

“Thus, my point,” the ghost chirped, settling back down at Nadiya’s side. “Plus, that thing is designed to pierce atmosphere and keep going for millions of miles. We need just under half a dozen. It won’t be easy to control.”

“Okay, okay,” Nadiya replied. “Then what’s your plan for finding a ship.”

“There’s not much to it,” Bluejay said, “Once we get to the exit, we just go ship to ship on the tarmac until we find one I can get running.”

“So we’re just hoping we get lucky?” Tom asked.

“Odds are stacked in our favor,” Bluejay assured him. “We don’t need a ship with a warp drive, just something that we can pack ten people into. A civilian cruiser, any old military jumpships left behind. And if we need to repair the engine, you’re looking at the best place to scavenge for parts on this continent.”

Though the few vertically-standing rockets dominated everyone’s view, O’Hare proper was a sight in and of itself. Bluejay had mentioned that O’Hare had actually been a huge airport before the Traveler even showed up. Over time it had expanded to meet a growing humanity’s needs, now taking up a vast amount of space with almost twenty terminals dedicated to intercontinental and interplanetary travel. The tarmacs were vast, the terminal buildings stretched on for multiple miles.

All that had been built for a time when humanity seemed like they were overflowing the Earth. Colonizing the rest of the solar system, some reaching even beyond. Now, O’Hare lay as a memorial to that era, old bones of a Golden Age ambition.

The team made their way off the highway exit, the elevated road sloping down into a tolled entryway into the spaceport’s territory. Most of the signs had their letters worn away, but a few familiar banners still drifted in the light wind. The North American Empire’s flag.

Here the rusted cars were so densely packed they effectively formed a roadblock. Nadiya and the others climbed atop the metal frames, clambering across the sea of metal as if crossing a river on logs. It was cumbersome, but better than squeezing between the cars, risking being sliced by broken glass or torn sheet metal.

They carried on like this for seemingly another half mile. The road was fenced in by concrete walls for security, and they were too high to clear for the humans. Nadiya double jumped on top for a quick scan before hopping back down to the refugees.

“Seems this road leads us right into the parking garage for one of the northwestern terminals,” Nadiya informed them. “But sooner than that, there’s a hole blown out on the right side of the barrier. We climb through that, we can get straight to the tarmac.”

“Whatever gets us to a working ship faster,” Tom said. The refugees murmured in agreement.

“It ought to,” Bluejay replied. “Plus going inside of the terminals could be dangerous. You never know where House of Scar are camping out.”

“We’ll still need to be on high alert,” Nadiya concluded, hopping gracefully to the frame of an old camper. “But I guess we’re all accustomed to that anyways.”

The murmurs grew a little sarcastic. Nadiya sniffled as she led the way, keeping herself a couple cars in front of Tom and the others.

“Nadiya, don’t take it personally,” Bluejay said quietly. “It’s been a long journey. They’re just frustrated with the situation, not you.”

The Hunter nodded without earnest. “I don’t know how you can tell that.”

“I’ll be honest, I can’t,” Bluejay replied. “Cards on the table, thought it would make you feel better.”

Nadiya cracked a smile. “Well, I appreciate the effort, bud.”

“But when we get them to the City, none of that will matter. They’ll remember that in time. Whether they wanted it or not, you’re their Guardian.”

Bluejay’s words fell on somewhat deaf ears. Nadiya glanced back at the caravan behind her before leaping through the hole blown out of the barrier, landing with feline balance on the tarmac.

Before her lay one of the many tarmac areas at O’Hare. The landing strip she faced stretched on for maybe a mile, the pavement split by patches of grass and bush that had begun reclaiming the land. A few small ships dotted the façade of the enormous terminal on her left, most of them looking no worse for wear than the ruined cars strewn across the highway. Perhaps the odds weren’t as good as she’d figured.

Nadiya turned back and helped some of the refugees through the opening, gently placing Annie on the ground. “Alright everyone,” the Hunter said, trying to sound reassuring, “Let’s find a ticket home.”

No sooner had the Gunslinger turned around to press onward than a distant crack of gunfire interrupted them. The bullet glanced off the pavement only a foot in front Nadiya, careening off into the wild. The Hunter flinched, instinctively holding her arms horizontally to keep the rest of the group behind her.

“Everyone back up,” Nadiya said calmly, before turning around frantically. “Get back to cover!”

The group hurried back to the barrier, climbing back to safety. Nadiya and Tom continued scanning the area in front of them for the sniper, but it was way too much ground to cover.

“Why haven’t they fired again?” Nadiya whispered.

“A warning shot?” Tom guessed.

Tom chambered a round into his wooden rifle while Nadiya drew her sidearm. _A true Hunter could shoot a dreg between the eyes with a pistol from fifty meters out._ Time to put that claim to the test.

“Bluejay, anything?”

“My scans don’t indicate any signs of life, or at least nothing that can wield a gun,” the ghost quipped. “But I don’t have much range without a local network to tap into. We’re kind of in the open here.”

“We’re well aware of that,” Tom spat through gritted teeth. He glanced back at the other refugees, all safely behind the concrete barrier once more.

“I am picking up on a radio frequency, however. One that matches Tower standard operating signals! It may be coming from another ghost!”

Nadiya bit her lip in anticipation. Another Risen? A Guardian? “Patch me through.”

Bluejay vanished from thin air, residing once more within the Gunslinger’s head. “Okay, you’re live.”

“Hello? My name is Nadiya. If whoever just shot at me is on this frequency, please know I come in peace.”

Nadiya heard breathing through the static on the other end. Someone was listening.

“If you _are_ a Guardian, or even a Risen, we could really use your help. I have ten refugees with me, we’re trying to seek transport to the Last City. I don’t have the means to fight you, wherever you are, so please respond or make this quick.”

Nadiya winced at her word choice. Hopefully the sniper couldn’t see her expression, but why had she been so hostile? It had just come out like that…

“Callsign?”

The voice was somewhat mechanical, speaking quiet and matter-of-factly.

But it was a voice.

Still, the response confused the Hunter. “I’m sorry, callsign?”

“They mean your City callsign. Your fireteam, your… Ah, never mind,” Bluejay explained, before hijacking the conversation. “Look, I’m Bluejay, Nadiya’s ghost. She’s only been rezzed for about a month and a half, so we haven’t been assigned any work or names from the City.”

Bluejay’s plea was met with an uncomfortable silence. “We have people with us, innocent people. We’re trying to get them home. No ulterior motive, on my honor as a ghost.”

Still silence.

“Please,” Nadiya said. The word seemed more desperate than she’d intended.

But somehow, it was the one syllable that struck a chord. An exasperated sigh came through the audio feed. “Stay put. Holster your weapons, and no sudden movements. To the Hunter, keep your hands flat against your chest. Don’t try anything stupid, because I’m quicker.”

Nadiya holstered her sidearm before motioning to Tom to sling his rifle back over his shoulder. She placed her hands against her armor as instructed. It felt weird to be subjugated to demands, but whatever kept her from having her head blown off…

The two waited in silence for a couple minutes before the trill wail of an engine approached. Zooming towards them from the terminal was a speeder, piloted by a single person. Their cape billowed in the wind behind them. A fellow Hunter.

The speeder disappeared about ten meters out, the Hunter effortlessly transitioning from saddled to a light jog. She held a hand cannon vertically, surveying the newcomers. Nadiya resisted the urge to reach for her own weapon.

The other Hunter had a mechanical face, a sleek silver with piercing green eyes. Most of her face was hidden behind her dusty sky blue cloak, which hung shorter and thinner than Nadiya’s own.

“How many of you?” she asked. Nadiya couldn’t help but notice her trigger discipline. A fellow Hunter could shoot her and Tom dead with a second on the draw. Best to play along.

“Eleven of us. Tom, here, and myself. And nine more hiding behind us,” Nadiya answered, still holding her hands to her chest. She tilted her head in exasperation. “They’re not armed, at least not with anything that’ll kill a Hunter.”

“Lucky you,” the Hunter said. Her electronic eyes flickered between Tom and Nadiya, searching for… something. “You’re a fresh Risen? Where’d you find these people?”

“We used to be servants of the Warlord Bruce,” Tom spoke up, his voice filled with more confidence than Nadiya’s had been. “Nadiya was resurrected near our camp in the Badlands, and we’ve been following her here for a month and a half.”

The Warlord’s name drew a brief look of surprise. She glanced back at Nadiya. “And the Warlord?”

The Gunslinger shook her head. “He’s no longer with us.”

Another awkward silence. The other Hunter simply stared, supposedly thinking, before starting towards Nadiya. She drew extremely close, speaking directly into the Gunslinger’s ear. “If you killed him, you’ve earned a bounty back in the City. Don’t you dare make it a habit, though.”

She backed off, leaving Nadiya to nervously gulp away the tension. The other Hunter looked back to Tom. “My name is Lee-4. Tell your people to get out of cover and follow me. We’ll get you all home.”


	2. Chapter 2

Lee-4 led Nadiya and the refugees across the tarmac towards the nearest terminal building. She walked a few paces ahead of the group, seemingly keeping herself distant from the Gunslinger and the others. Nadiya had seemingly endless questions rattling around her brain for the other Hunter, but apparently now wasn’t the time.

On the other hand, the refugees were seemingly having the time of their lives. Nadiya couldn’t remember beaming smiles this wide since their first few days on the trail away from the Badlands. Maybe Bluejay had been right. They’d just needed a fresh sign of hope, and they’d believe in her again.

Nadiya struggled to find words for anyone. Lee-4 seemed intent on being distant, while Tom and the others spoke excitedly amongst themselves. Despite the month and a half they’d spent together, the Gunslinger just didn’t feel like part of the group. Always the outsider, the protector. Years of living under a violent, oppressive Warlord made that understandable, but it didn’t help her spirits.

“Hey, Nadiya.” It was Bluejay, floating alongside her. “I told you things would get better.”

The Gunslinger smirked. “Always the optimist.” She looked on ahead at Lee-4, beginning her ascent up some catwalk stairs that led into the terminal. “But I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet.”

“Maybe not,” the ghost replied, “But I think there’s reason to celebrate. We might’ve found our ticket out of here.”

No sooner had Bluejay finished than a gunshot rang off from within the terminal. Nadiya’s hand instinctively drew her sidearm, while Lee-4 raised her hand cannon higher up the metal staircase. She glanced back at Nadiya, glowing eyes narrow with suspicion.

“On me,” Lee-4 commanded, waiting for Nadiya to ascend to her level before entering the building. “I trust you know how to handle yourself.”

“We wouldn’t have made it this far if she didn’t,” Bluejay snidely remarked. Nadiya kept herself from smiling as she and the other Hunter stepped into the terminal.

The breach and clear felt instinctual to Nadiya, as if she’d practiced this with a fellow Guardian dozens of times. She and Lee-4 scanned the hallway, an abandoned maintenance corridor with more cobwebs than functioning light sources.

“Clear!” Lee announced. “Follow me.”

The Hunter led the way to the right, hand cannon trained on the path ahead. Nadiya quietly told Tom to lead the others behind her at a distance, keeping the unarmed people behind the two Guardians. Who knew what lied ahead.

“Lee, if you’re a Guardian, what are you doing here?” Nadiya queried as they pressed forward slowly. “We’re a long way from the Last City.”

“Quiet!” the other Hunter hissed in response. Nadiya didn’t get the impression that she was hiding anything. More that she ought to let the more experienced Hunter work.

Thus, Nadiya did as she was told, watching her surroundings as Lee-4 led the way. The maintenance tunnel opened into a broader walkway, lined with abandoned shops and worn down seating areas. Hundreds of years ago, this must’ve been a bustling commercial area for millions travelling between planets. Now, it was only a harshly lit ruin. The windows showing the tarmacs stretching out for miles had no glass left, leaving a warm draft to invade the building.

Lee approached a doorway into another maintenance area. “The room beyond here is my fireteam’s forward operating base. Do not fire unless there is probable cause,” she instructed. Nadiya nodded, leaving the veteran Hunter to turn the handle and fling the door open.

Nadiya aimed through the threshold with her sidearm, ready for anything, when-

“What the _hell_ are you two doing?”

Lee-4’s quiet exasperation had suddenly escalated into full-blown anger. She lowered her hand cannon immediately, marching into the room without inhibition. Nadiya slowly followed her, taking in the scene.

Most notably was the dead body of a person draped in dark purple robes, sprawled out upon the ground like all the other skeletons littering O’Hare. A ghost of similar color hovered over the body’s head, spindles of data connecting the two. Above the body stood a broad shouldered Guardian, whose plated armor and sky-blue mark made him easy to place as a Titan.

“Lee, trust me, I can explain,” the Titan started, raising his hands in mock surrender. Lee stepped towards him threateningly, and the Titan actually moved back in response. “You might not like it! But I can.”

“Why the hell is Brand dead?” Lee-4 asked, pointing at the body. Her voice sounded positively bewildered.

“Well, you see, he asked me to shoot him in the head,” the Titan replied, brandishing a small scout rifle. It was dwarfed by his bulking torso and arms, the instrument of war practically looking like a children’s toy.

“And so you indulged him,” Lee continued.

“Yeah,” the Titan said. He licked his lips, making his apathy well-known. “I mean, have you met the guy?”

Lee’s eyes narrowed as she knelt down to the ghost hovering above the body formerly known as Brand. Her ghost appeared above her shoulder, linking with the other ghost through datastreams so bright they hurt Nadiya’s eyes.

“Anyways, who’s the new girl?” the Titan said, jerking a thumb towards Nadiya.

The Gunslinger holstered her sidearm and extended a hand. “My name is Nadiya. I am a Gunslinger, and I have brought-”

“Oh, you’re the voice we picked up on the Tower frequency?” the Titan interrupted. “Spare me the elevator pitch.”

“Arno, if you have the long range transmitter set up, _why aren’t you monitoring it?_ ” Lee-4 responded. Nadiya couldn’t see her face, but whatever machinations made up her mouth were grinding their teeth.

“Emile’s up on the roof connected to the beacon. He’ll let us know if he picks up on any broadcasts from downtown.” The Titan, flashed a smile back at Nadiya. “Emile’s my ghost. I take it you’re a fresh Guardian?”

“Yeah. Only a month and a half old or so.”

“Well, you picked a hell of a group to show you the ropes.” The Titan reached for Nadiya’s hand to shake, which she’d absent-mindedly lowered amidst the commotion. “Name’s Arno. Striker Titan. Closest thing to the brawn a group of Guardians would ever need.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“You’ve already met Lee-4. Arcstrider, fireteam leader…” Arno’s eyes narrowed. “And hardass.”

Lee made a dismissive grunt as she worked with her ghost over the body.

“And that there on the ground is Brand-13. Our resident Warlock. Hell of a Voidwalker, and a crazy son of a bitch to match. The three of us are Fireteam Gamma. At least, that’s our Vanguard designation. _I_ could’ve been a little more creative with it.”

Nadiya scanned the room once more, nodding with apprehension. “Well, nice to meet you all. Sorry to interrupt whatever… _this_ is.”

“Keep your judgment to yourself,” Arno mumbled kiddingly.

The datastreams between the two ghosts burst into an even brighter light. With the pulse of life came a mechanical gasp for air from the dead body, who sat up in a surprised jolt.

“Welcome back, Brand,” Arno said. “What’d you find?”

The Warlock held his head in his hands. Nadiya couldn’t help but stare at his helmet, which looked less like a piece of armor and more like a live feed of outer space. It seemed to glow a dark purple, matching the Warlock’s robes, with stars and nebulae dotting the perfect curvature of the helm.

After a few moments of quiet thought, Brand lifted his head back up. “Unfortunately nothing. I believe I was resurrected too early to truly cross into the void.” His voice was slow and enunciated, as if he were considering each word with delicate precision.

He turned his head towards Lee, although Nadiya couldn’t exactly tell how or if he was making eye contact. “For the foreseeable future, I’d appreciate if you could leave Dismas to resurrect me on his own accord. Exploring the void beyond my corporeal form is a strenuous task, being pulled away with no warning could potentially be traumatic.”

“Why are you using valuable time to chase some pet experiment?” Lee retorted.

“I would assume you’d know better to ask a Warlock that. Let alone Brand,” Arno interjected. “Like I said, we’ve got nothing to do while we wait for Emile.”

Lee-4 finally stood back up, her ghost vanishing after its job was done. “I expect you both to be somewhat more alert than this. It’s impossible for us to screen the entire spaceport. We could have House of Scar ambushing us at any given moment.”

“I don’t think we ought to be too worried about a few dregs trying to get the jump on us,” Arno said. He slammed his fists together, electric sparks flying in a show of force. Nadiya shivered a bit, remembering the discipline of arc energy that Bruce had used against her.

“Remember why we’re here,” Lee-4 said, shooting a glare back to the Titan. “Apparently we don’t know _what_ the Scars are capable of. So I’d appreciate you both taking this more seriously.”

The Hunter stepped over the Warlock’s legs to go interact with a foreign console. Brand-13 shook his head – seemingly in disappointment – and stood back up. “Seems I was wasting time, Arno. I suppose my work is less important than I thought.”

“I’m sorry, excuse me,” Bluejay said, appearing next to Nadiya. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I feel as if we’re getting a little shafted here.”

Brand turned to face the Gunslinger’s ghost. “You two are the leaders of the refugees? I trust they’re all still safe?”

“Yes,” Nadiya said, “They’re all just outside this room. Lee and I thought we were about to get in a fight, so they were hanging back.”

“Make sure they’re comfortable out in the concourse,” Brand said, supposedly looking at Nadiya. She found the helmet a little unnerving. “The three of us won’t be leaving until we’ve completed our work here. Rest assured, we will help you all get back to the Last City. But your patience will be necessary.”

The Warlock turned in a split second, robes swirling about him, and he stepped towards Lee-4 to help with whatever she was inspecting. Nadiya bit her lip in exasperation. These Guardians didn’t seem hostile, but they sure were… dismissive?

“Don’t worry kid, I’ll explain everything in a few,” Arno said, smiling reassuringly. “Go make sure your people are okay. Never know what’s lurking about around here.”

The Titan turned around too, leaving Nadiya to stand confused as Fireteam Gamma left her to her own devices. She didn’t enjoy being left in the dark.

* * *

Maybe an hour later, Nadiya was pacing about the concourse, holding her Strongbow-D tight to her chest. She was trying to give off the impression to the refugees that she was patrolling, but in reality her mind wandered.

After how long she had travelled in the hopes of finding a way to the City, she’d finally found a saving grace. And they had kept themselves locked away from Nadiya and her caravan for an hour. It got on her nerves.

Bluejay had consoled her, explaining that they probably had some important mission for the City. That they couldn’t completely trust Nadiya, seeing as she was a fresh Risen. That made sense to Nadiya, especially given her experience with Bruce, but it was still an insult. Hadn’t she proven she was good, leading these people to safety? Had she not earned their respect from that alone?

Asking herself these questions was just getting to her own head. She just had to wait for their instruction. They were more experienced than her, she just had to trust them. And hell, she could use a break.

The rest of the refugees were taking the moment to rest wholeheartedly. After walking across the country in constant fear of being assaulted by Scars, having four Guardians at the ready as protection had to be liberating. Even in the middle of this hot summer day, most of the group found spots in the ancient seating areas to sleep.

Nadiya tried clearing her head. Outside the blown out windows was the southern tarmac, for the most part abandoned. The towering rockets that she’d seen from miles away were somewhere else in O’Hare, out of view. Less of a spectacle to see, but more importantly, it meant less advantageous sniping positions for any resident Fallen. Not that she could do much from here with a shotgun.

The doorway to Fireteam Gamma’s operations room opened. Arno stepped out looking flustered, slamming the door on an aggravated conversation within between Arno and Brand. He took a deep breath before noticing Nadiya, and started over to her.

“Sorry for the wait,” the Titan apologized, leaning against a bar counter. His eyes scanned the shelves for anything left behind from centuries ago to no avail. “You all showing up has kinda put a dent in things.”

Bluejay made a quick chirp. “You still haven’t told us what you’re all doing in Old Chicago.”

Arno pursed his lips. “We were following the trail of another fireteam, actually. O’Hare was just our insertion point.”

The Titan’s face grew solemn. His hair was almost entirely buzzed off, and his nose looked crooked, maybe broken. Perhaps that was from before his ghost had resurrected him, Nadiya figured.

“If you’ve been making your way here from the Badlands, I’m guessing you’ve run into the House of Scar?” Arno asked.

“Constantly,” the Gunslinger replied. “Slowed us down by a few weeks. They were attacking the camp of these people when I was resurrected, and apparently we were heading deeper into Scar territory coming here.”

“Certainly. Fireteam Rattler took it upon themselves to check out Old Chicago, see how prevalent the Fallen presence was here. House of Scar’s one of the smaller Fallen houses anyways, so they figured they could handle a quick observe and report.”

Arno lowered his head. “That was a couple weeks ago. They stopped reporting back to the Tower four days ago. So we were sent in for a search and rescue.”

Nadiya nodded, leaning against the bar beside him. “And you haven’t picked up anything from other Guardians until I showed up?”

Arno shook his head. “Besides you, no. Not until about twenty minutes ago.”

The Titan clenched a fist, sparks flying off it. He seemed not to notice. “We finally picked up a signal from one of Rattler’s ghosts. They’ve been holed up in downtown for a few days, trying to lay low because of a much heavier Scar presence than expected.” He took a deep breath. “And one of them was already killed in action.”

The thought sent shivers down Nadiya’s spine. On her long journey here, she’d certainly been afraid of the Fallen. They’d taken lives from her group. But she’d always felt scared on behalf of the refugees, never for herself. They were just pirates with makeshift weapons. Knowing that they could kill a Guardian…

“Look, Lee told me that you killed Bruce.” Arno released his fist, turning to the Hunter. “Don’t get me wrong, bastard had it coming. He’s evaded City judicial teams for years. Killed maybe a dozen Guardians, maybe even more.

“So that means you’re capable. I can’t hold that against you, and I don’t think anyone could. But when one of our own dies… It means war.”

Nadiya nodded. “I guess I understand. So you’re all going after the Fallen who did this?”

Arno tilted his head back, jaw clenched in anger. “No. Not quite. I don’t know.”

His eyes did another sweep of the bar for anything before turning back even more disappointed. “You showed up, and that’s a new responsibility for us. You might be a capable Guardian, but we can’t just leave you here with all these people. Doesn’t matter that you made it all the way here. I’m not comfortable leaving a fresh Guardian to protect this many people outside what may very well be a warzone.”

Nadiya couldn’t help but feel insulted, but she nodded in response anyways. What was the point in trying to argue? “So what’s your plan now?”

Arno sighed. “It’s a lot to ask of you. Brand and Lee don’t really approve. But… I’d rather I stay with the refugees and you head into Chicago with the others.”

The Hunter gulped. Against Fallen who were killing Guardians?

“I know you’re fresh, but if you killed one of the last few Warlords, you can handle Scars. I’m positive of that. Especially if you’re alongside the other two.”

“Aren’t you all an assigned fireteam?” Bluejay asked.

“Yeah, technically,” Arno replied. “We don’t usually work together. Vanguard threw us together as an emergency to go after Fireteam Rattler since none of us were busy with work closer to the City.” Arno grinned. “So it’s not like you’re killing team chemistry.

“But if anything happened to you or any of these people on what could’ve been our watch,” he continued, shaking his head, “We’re not doing our job right.”

Nadiya nodded in understanding, thinking on all that. He was right, it _was_ a lot to ask of her. But he was also right in that she was ready and capable for this. She felt it in her bones, that if faced with more Fallen, she could become the dangerous force she’d seen in herself only days after being resurrected. No question about it.

“Okay,” she finally responded, looking up from the floor back at the older Titan. “If that’s what you feel is necessary, I can do it.”

“Good. Then the two exos are waiting for you in the situation room. They’ll brief you before y’all head out,” Arno said, standing upright from the counter. “I’ll get a transport together for all these people. You did a hell of a job getting them all the way here.”

Nadiya smiled and walked for the door, taking a brief look at the sleeping bodies of her refugees. She’d pushed so hard to keep them safe. Even if she didn’t feel part of their family… she was proud.

Back inside the forward operating base, Lee-4 had her hands on her hips in exasperation while Brand-13 seemed to be meditating a few inches above the ground. Nadiya walked in cautiously, shutting the door behind her. Neither Guardian seemed to react to her arrival. She was unsure what to say.

“Hi,” she spoke nervously, shifting her feet. Unlike her time with Bruce, she didn’t feel threatened, but instead obligated to impress the Guardians. “Arno explained to me that I’ll be joining the two of you going into downtown.”

“This is true,” Brand affirmed, seemingly not moving a muscle as his crossed legs gently lowered to the floor. “He spoke on behalf of you at quite some length. I’m not one to put much stock into a lone accomplishment, but defeating a Warlord that has survived to this day is nothing to shrug at. So perhaps you are a worthwhile asset.”

“What he’s trying to say,” Lee growled, “Is that we appreciate you taking the harder job. We could use another Hunter trying to track down Fireteam Rattler more than a Titan.”

She finally made eye contact with Nadiya, body language still exasperated. “Just don’t die on my watch. I don’t need a fresh-faced Guardian’s death on my conscience.”

Nadiya straightened her back. “I’ll do my best.”

“Hopefully your best is enough. But nevertheless, thank you,” the Warlock said, rising to his feet. Nadiya helplessly looked for some emotional cue in the glowing helmet.

“I’ll fill you in on the situation report,” Lee-4 began, pulling up her ghost in her hand. “But first, some ground rules. I’m fireteam leader. What I say goes. Not out of some ego trip, but to keep us organized. We split up, we might befall the same fate as Jacobsen-”

“The Hunter in Fireteam Rattler who already lost his life,” Brand interjected.

“Yes,” Lee confirmed, electric eyes flitting between the Warlock and her new recruit. “We’re stronger together. No matter what your Hunter instincts may tell you.” She held her gaze on Brand for a moment. “That also means no running off to chase some irrelevant experiment.”

“What I do in my studies won’t affect my fieldwork,” Brand noted dismissively. He turned away and inspected a workbench in the supply room, fiddling with something Nadiya couldn’t make out.

“As for our mission,” Lee-4 continued, “We’re heading towards downtown immediately. We’ve been stationed here for just over twelve hours on the lookout for physical signs of Guardian activity or short-range transmissions from a ghost. Unfortunately, what few satellites the City has in orbit are in spots that won’t cover Old Chicago for a few more days, so there’s no way for Rattler to send word home. Hence us being here to make sure nothing went wrong with their mission.”

“Which obviously wasn’t true,” Nadiya mumbled.

Lee-4 nodded glumly. “Unfortunately not. Shortly after you and your refugees arrived, we received a signal from the lone Titan in Rattler’s ghost, Lucky.”

“The broadcast was weak, but my ghost Dismas was able to register the signal to a Golden Age university campus just west of the city center,” Brand said, back still turned. “It seems they weren’t able to get much information through without the Fallen being able to triangulate their position.”

“Thus, we’re left with the essentials,” Lee continued, folding her arms. “Rattler’s scouting report is that Chicago is not where the Scar kell is stationed as we thought. Instead, the ketch above the city is manned by a high baron named Taniks.”

“And unlike most barons, this Eliksni fights alongside is underlings,” Brand said. “Perhaps to ensure that Guardians are not cutting through swathes of low-ranking dregs and vandals.”

“He’s the one that killed Jacobsen. That was a few days ago,” Lee said. “So that leaves Royce, a Defender, and Yvette, a Bladedancer. Their ships east of the Loop were destroyed, leaving them no exfiltration plan. And that’s all we know.”

“So we go in and find them before this Taniks guy does,” Nadiya guessed.

Lee-4 nodded. “Precisely. We’ll head straight for their last known location, and then hunt them down. The City has essentially no intel on Scar capabilities in Chicago, so we don’t know what we’re walking into. We just need to get Rattler out before we lose any more Guardians.”

Brand-13 finally turning around holding two strange polygons. They glowed a light blue, each one tallying an impossibly large amount of sides.

“Arno is staying behind and fixing up a ship for not only your refugees, but the survivors of Rattler as well,” Brand explained. “He asked me to bequeath these to you. A Hunter should be armed with at least one long range weapon.”

Bluejay zoomed forward, scanning the polygons. “These are engrams, Nadiya! They could contain anything. Just let me decode them…”

The ghost splayed tendrils of light over the engrams until the each vanished, presumably into Bluejay’s matterless storage. “A souped-up kinetic scout rifle, and a sparrow! I’d say you owe him one.”

“What’s a sparrow?” Nadiya queried. She liked the sound of a new scout; her first weapon had been one before it was snapped in two by the Warlord.

“Guardian-issue speeder bikes,” Bluejay explained, turning towards Lee-4. “Like what she approached us on out on the tarmac.”

“We’ll need to get to downtown ASAP. And going on foot would take us hours,” Lee explained. “If you’re going to be working with Guardians, you best be outfitted like one.”

“Okay,” Nadiya said, flexing her shoulders. “When do we leave?”

“Imminently,” the Warlock answered, already making his way out of the room.

Lee-4 walked up to Nadiya, making for the exit as well. “Follow me. And don’t let the Voidwalker out of your sight, if possible.”

Nadiya lagged behind Lee for a few seconds, taking a deep breath. “Time to join the big leagues,” Bluejay muttered, vanishing into her head. “Just remember your rallying cry.”

Nadiya smiled, thinking back to her self-adorned pep talks back on the trail. “Hunters hunt.” It felt silly now that she was alongside veteran Guardians, but nothing had changed. Time to do what she did best.


	3. Chapter 3

On the long walk to O’Hare, Nadiya had often wondered about the crashed ship Bluejay had resurrected her in. Where had she come from? Why had she landed in the middle of nowhere in the Badlands? What did it feel like to be that fast?

Most of her questions remained unanswered, but now she had some idea of the last one. The sparrow that Arno had gifted her was a common model, lightweight but lacking the engine power or maneuverability that Brand-13 and Lee-4 seemed to have. The two exos wove in and out of rusted traffic substantially quicker than Nadiya could, having to slow up every few minutes to make sure she wasn’t left behind.

It didn’t matter. This was the most fun Nadiya’d had since she was reborn. Even with her helmet on, she could feel the wind whipping around her satisfyingly. The trill whine of her sparrow was exhilarating, as was the engine sputtering for control as she pivoted around bombed out trucks or drifted around roadblocks on the highway.

She was having so much fun that she just barely noticed the other two Guardians parked under an overpass. Nadiya grinded to a halt, the scream of her engine replaced by the deep bass of her brakes at work. Her sparrow stopped in the shadow of the overpass, opposite the other members of Fireteam Gamma.

“Why the stop? Something wrong?” Nadiya asked, sitting up in her seat. While the exhilaration of driving the sparrow was unparalleled, her back ached from leaning forward so intensely for that long.

Lee-4 had dismounted her sparrow, crouched behind a car. She rested her sniper on the warped frame of the vehicle, staring at the city just beyond them. “Take five. Look at downtown. You can see the ketch from here.”

Nadiya turned to look at the city. Old Chicago was largely made up of pre-Golden Age skyscrapers, the city’s name being repurposed for another colony off the planet. That wasn’t to say it looked quaint. The skyscrapers that had survived this long were magnitudes taller than even the highest rockets back at O’Hare. To think humanity had progressed that far in engineering even without the Traveler…

More relevant, though, was the ketch hanging just above the city. Even from here, maybe a dozen miles out, Nadiya was awestruck by its size. It dominated the skyline, casting a shadow upon much of downtown at the height of the sun. More importantly, that thing was fully loaded with heavily-armed Fallen and their skiffs. No small foe indeed.

“So what? We progress on foot now?” Nadiya asked. It was an option she had hoped not to consider, given how muggy the air was getting as the suburbs devolved into the swamp runoff of Lake Michigan.

“Of course not. We’d lose valuable time,” Lee answered, not budging from her sniper’s scope. “But we’ll have to be more careful from here on out. No communication while we’re on our sparrows.”

“The more distant we are, the stronger a signal our ghosts have to send out to reach each other,” Brand explained, hovering upon his sparrow. “With a Fallen presence this large, they no doubt will be able to intercept our signals should we be too foolhardy. So, we must keep some degree of a low profile.”

“That means transmatting away your sparrow and hiding if any skiffs pass overhead, too,” Lee continued. “We don’t need any unnecessary skirmishes before we get to Chicago proper.”

“As much as I’d like to see more on the other side, it would be unwise to face overwhelming odds of Fallen without good reason,” Brand said.

Nadiya shivered under her armor despite the heat. “What’s so interesting about ‘the other side’ that’s worth dying over?”

Brand shifted in his seat, helmet more pointedly facing Nadiya. From what she could gather, it was some expression of intrigue. “Tell me, young Gunslinger, have you died yet?”

“Since being resurrected? No.”

The Warlock nodded, apparently correct in his hypothesis. “My apologies for being so distant when I first made your acquaintance. Often I find myself completely enraptured in my studies or in fieldwork. The two simultaneously, should the situation allow for it.”

Nadiya shrugged. “Don’t sweat it.”

“An exo such as myself could not if they wanted to,” Brand replied, some faint sliver of humor present in his voice. “Though I apologize now as I’d like to offer knowledge, should you take it in good faith.”

“Take it with a grain of salt,” Lee interjected, still staring out at the skyline.

Not bad advice. Nadiya was starting to see why Arno had called Brand a ‘crazy son of a bitch’. Regardless, she wanted to hear for herself. “Sure,” she told the Warlock.

Brand fiddled with his hands absent-mindedly as he began his speech. “As Guardians, we are given the unique opportunity to live and die as many times as our ghost’s life permits. We die, but we don’t _die._ We come back.

“No doubt you’re aware of this. As an agent of the Traveler, our favorite tool for the job is our Light, which we use to dispose death and chaos upon our enemies as we see fit. The Eliksni we kill don’t have the luxury of coming back.”

“As if they don’t deserve it,” Lee muttered.

“I’m not justifying the Eliksni atrocities against the human race. That’s deliberately misinterpreting my message,” Brand continued, flashing what might’ve been a judgmental look at Lee from behind his swirling stars. “The point is, Guardians are trained to treat death as a solution, an answer to our problems.”

The Warlock held up a gloved finger, emphasizing his words. “But what if, instead, we viewed death as a question? Something to be explored?”

Nadiya shrugged once more, unsure of a fitting response. “I don’t know. Seems like it’d be hard to study without a functioning brain.”

“But you don’t understand!” Brand exclaimed, growing ever more excited to share his ideas. “You haven’t been under. We get brought back to life, and thus, there is a space in between our lives that is largely uncharted territory.

“When we sleep, our brains create scenarios within our heads out of our control, entire realities within dreams that are born of nothing but unfiltered imagination. And in this state, the Light can manipulate us. The Traveler can speak to us. So the Speaker says…”

“The Speaker says a lot of things,” Lee butted in once more. “As did the Speaker before him. If you take his word as gospel, you’re no more a fool than all those bowing to false religions before they knew of the Traveler.”

“So you don’t believe the Traveler has spoken to you?” Brand queried, his tone accusatory.

Lee finally turned away from her sniper, glowing eyes narrow. “No.”

“How awfully close-minded,” the Voidwalker replied, shaking his head. “What about you, Nadiya? Do you believe the Traveler reaches out to us?”

Nadiya pursed her lips. Her dreams were random, fleeting, without much coherence. And yet, she still remembered her first dream. It had felt so real, despite how bizarre of scenes it had contained. She could still remember it vividly. The wolf beside her, flames soothing and destroying her. Choking on ash, or maybe in space?

“Maybe,” she finally responded. It was the best she could offer. Who knew for sure, but who was she to say that dream hadn’t meant more than random threads of imagination weaving together without a purpose? That seemed so anticlimactic, so useless. Could it not mean something?

“Maybe,” Brand repeated, considering the word. “Maybe, maybe not. It’s fair to assume that it’s guesswork, but I would argue it is overwhelmingly true.”

“Because you’re the authority on Traveler-induced hallucinations, apparently,” Lee said.

“No, no I’m not. But I’d like to explore a similar concept further: what significance does the life in death, in between true corporeal lives, have? Where is our consciousness, our soul, should we have one? I’d like to study further.”

“That seems interesting,” Nadiya said, genuinely intrigued. “Although it seems a little beyond me.”

“Perhaps, perhaps not,” Brand responded. “One does not need to be a Warlock to find themselves curious with the state of our universe. Although those gifted in void Light, such as myself, seem much more capable of traversing beyond our mortal plane.”

“Five minutes are up,” Lee said. “I’m still reading no skiffs coming westward. We’ve got a straight shot to the campus. Radio silent from here on out.”

Lee-4 stepped away from the car, summoning her sparrow once more. Brand-13 hunched back down in his own, turning it parallel to the long-dead traffic. “Nadiya, when you do die for the first time, tell me what you see. I’ve never spoken to an Awoken about what their consciousness sees beyond life.”

With that, the two veteran Guardians sped off towards the city, kicking up clouds of dust in their wake. Nadiya leaned into her sparrow, suddenly more nervous about crashing than before. Despite Brand’s fascination with the subject, she still wasn’t too eager to die.

* * *

It only took the fireteam another fifteen minutes to reach the campus the signal had come from. The highway was still elevated over the streets below, but was now dwarfed in height by the skyscrapers just a few blocks further east.

Good thing the highway was raised, too. Though Old Chicago was once a pristine city, it was now dominated by the inland marsh of an annually flooding lake. What had once been streets were now overgrown by moss, bush, and reeds. Vines snaked upwards on the shells of old buildings, while other facades were dotted with nests of fungus. The overpass was a few stories above the battleground between nature and concrete.

Bluejay had pointed out stains on the sides of buildings, as well. This close to downtown, the wet season flooding could reach up to four feet high. Luckily, that had been a few months before. Now, in the transition between late summer and autumn, there was some semblance of solid ground.

The chunk of university just off the highway here was just a few buildings surrounding a long-drowned quad, a section of some old school placed in the middle of the metropolis. The tallest building on the campus was only about four stories tall, not much higher than the overpass. And atop it was a makeshift radio tower.

“We can make it to that tower by hopping rooftops,” Lee announced, scanning the campus for any imminent threats. Brand and Nadiya had already dismounted their sparrows, preparing themselves for potential combat.

The Gunslinger looked over the edge. It was nearly a twenty foot horizontal jump to the nearest rooftop. She hadn’t really practiced using her double jump for length, although now it seemed she’d have no choice. This would be the lamest challenge to back down from.

“I believe we’ll have to sweep the higher floors of the radio tower’s building,” Brand said, summoning a strange looking weapon. It was a matte gray, and seemed to have swirling pools of liquid encased in bubbles along the gun. “If not because I don’t see an easy jump directly to the roof, because that tower looks to be made of scavenged Fallen technology.”

“You think they’re still in there?” Nadiya asked, stretching her legs. She’d need a running start for the jump, and staying hunched in a sparrow for that long hadn’t done wonders for her muscles.

“It’s quite likely,” the Warlock confirmed, aiming down the glowing sights of his rifle at the building a few hundred yards away. “I’d wager that Fireteam Rattler coopted the tower from the Fallen, so as to not give up the signal of their ghost while reaching a far larger audience. Meaning us.”

“So they probably won’t still be on campus,” Lee said, her sniper disappearing from her hands as she drew her hand cannon. “If I were one of a couple Guardians pinned down here, I’d send that message then get the hell out of there while the Fallen investigate.”

Lee backed up, preparing for her own running start. “So, we’ll sweep and clear. Check for any signs of Rattler, eliminate any lagging Fallen threats. Then we’ll regroup and reconsider.”

She then sprinted towards the edge of the highway, leaping forward gracefully. At the apex of her jump, Lee hopped forward again, and a third time once over the gravelly roof to slow her momentum. She landed as if midstride, sprinting forward towards the next gap.

“Can I do that?” Nadiya quietly asked Bluejay as Brand started forward. The Warlock kicked off the railing, sailing through the air, before vanishing from existence for a split second. He landed on the other side just as suddenly. “Can I do _that?_ ”

“Maybe, and definitely not,” Bluejay replied, a little afraid at the suggestion. “Hunters can triple jump, but you haven’t tried before. While blinking – what Brand just did – is a skill learned by specific subclasses of Guardians. Of which Gunslingers are not included.”

“Bummer,” Nadiya grinned, before finally starting her run-up. She vaulted over the railing similar to Brand, kicking off the metal for an extra boost of momentum, before finding an invisible platform with her feet almost halfway across the gap.

Double jumping was always strangely satisfying, but Nadiya lost her goodwill when it became clear she didn’t have enough distance. Nadiya’s hands were luckily free of a weapon, so she reached forward for the ledge, just barely making it…

The collision was like getting punched across her entire body. Nadiya’s fingers held on for dear life, her mind focusing on pulling herself upward while her entire side ached from the brick wall’s impact. She struggled to lift upward before a gloved hand grasped her’s.

“Allow me,” Brand said, gently raising the Gunslinger up to her feet. Nadiya panted slightly as she brushed red dust off her white armor. The two-story drop to the ground had looked a lot more threatening when hanging on for dear life.

“Not all of us are natural born gymnasts,” Brand teased her, helmet still devoid of emotion. “Though it is somewhat expected of Hunters.”

“Everything’s a learning experience,” Nadiya responded, straightening up as she caught her breath. “For instance, I now know I can’t triple jump. I figured a Warlock would appreciate that.”

“Not in the slightest,” Brand joked, before turning to follow Lee. Nadiya did likewise.

The other gaps between buildings were nowhere near as challenging, allowing Nadiya to clear them handily. Her landings weren’t as graceful as Lee’s or Brand’s, but progress was progress. She couldn’t complain.

Before long, all three were facing the final building. This close to the center of the city, the sun’s light was eclipsed by the ketch hanging overhead. It was disconcerting, but the three Guardians were practically ants compared to its size. With that came easier stealth.

“Nadiya, you and I will enter the fourth floor from the two windows accessible by the building’s fire escape,” Lee announced, her voice a little more hushed than before. They were communicating through their ghosts now, but the whisper seemed appropriate. “Brand, you follow close behind. Hopefully we won’t need your theatrics.”

“Affirmative,” the Voidwalker replied. Nadiya simply nodded.

The two Hunters led with a short leap to the building’s exposed fire escape. Once again, Lee’s landing was perfectly choregraphed, while Nadiya’s heavy footfalls emitted a crash from the rusted metal.

Silence for a moment. Lee kept her finger to her helmet, shushing the Gunslinger as they waited for a sign. Nadiya sweated bullets as she concentrated on the soft breeze of warm air, searching for anomalies. From the second story, they either couldn’t hear the Fallen inside, or they’d stumbled upon a vacant building.

After no changes, Lee unholstered her hand cannon and made her way upwards, each step taking gingerly on the ancient metal. Nadiya followed close behind, concentrating to be as feather-footed as possible.

Halfway up the stairs to the fourth level, Nadiya drew her new scout rifle. After a month and a half together, she and Bluejay had become quite connected. As confidants, but also in the smallest physical cues. When Nadiya held her hands expecting a weapon, Bluejay delivered almost immediately.

This was the first time she was holding her new scout, of course. What set the rifle apart from her original weapon was the suppressor affixed to the barrel, which decreased the gun’s range of effectiveness but kept it close to quiet. Inside a building, the sound would still be quite noticeable, but normal gunshots might as well be flares announcing her position in this dense of a combat zone.

Nadiya followed Lee’s lead, slowing and crouching as they approached the two windows. Luckily, the glass had been blown out at some point in the past few centuries, leaving them to crouch underneath the window sills, ready to breach. The soft landing of Brand below let her know it was time for action.

Nadiya drew her knife, a gift from a deceased captain way back in the Badlands. Time to turn it against its own kin. She saw Lee holding her own blade, who turned to give Nadiya a quick nod before readying to vault through her window.

“Three, two, one…”

Nadiya leapt through in one swift motion, her eyes quickly adjusting to the stronger darkness within. The office corner had two dregs, one with its back turned to the window while the other inspected something on the ground.

The Gunslinger pulled her rifle’s trigger once, her aim a little shaky with only one hand on the gun, yet still finding the further dreg’s chest. As it crumpled to the floor with a quiet yelp, Nadiya wrapped the other dreg in a headlock with her left arm. Her knife plunged into its thorax, before she ripped it out jaggedly.

She left the dreg to collapse to the floor, ether spilling all over its orange clothes. The other dreg wheezed, reaching for its shock pistol before Nadiya sent another bullet into its chest. Two shots were too much for the creature’s heart to take.

Nadiya sheathed her knife, holding her scout at the ready now. The further dreg had been inspecting a dead vandal, collapsed on the ground. Its bony face was bleached white, crumpled in from a hard impact. It had been dead for hours.

Through the exit door. The next room was larger, littered with half destroyed tables and cubicles. Plenty of potential cover for Fallen lying in wait. Nadiya stepped forward carefully, scanning each corner intently. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Lee step out of the other corner office, advancing slowly with her hand cannon and knife raised. Behind her, Brand slipped through the threshold, his own scout scanning for targets.

Each step felt like a potential landmine. From what Nadiya could tell, there were no signs of life left, just plenty of Fallen that had been massacred here previously. Their bodies were cold, either crumped from heavy punches, bleeding from precise gunshot wounds, or cut to pieces by a flurry of knives. Guardians had done this.

The fireteam braced against the next threshold, ready for anything. Lee took point, stepping into the next hallway. Open doors littered the hall, some walls blown apart from long-past skirmishes. A few more dead Fallen were lying on the wooden floors randomly.

The three Guardians moved slowly, checking corners and scanning for threats. It seemed most of the Scars that had been camped out here had already been eviscerated by Fireteam Rattler well before. There were barely any stragglers.

A hole in the floor exposed a drop all the way into the building’s basement, which was flooded with algae-covered water. Nadiya stared down, looking for any sign of hostile life. Besides the top floor, the building may have been undisturbed for centuries. The lower levels seemed to be a tiny ecosystem, plants sprouting where light shone through broken windows, and fungus chewing their stems to pieces.

One of the last rooms adjacent to the hallway was more suspicious, however. It’s door was closed, unlike the others which had presumably been cleared by Rattler well before. Lee walked up to the wooden frame, presumably listening closely.

“Quite a few in there,” she whispered, holstering her hand cannon. “You two head up the maintenance staircase to the roof. I’ve got this.”

Brand and Nadiya followed her instructions, quietly stepping past to the overgrown staircase. A hole had been punched into the building’s façade here, leaving Nadiya to admire the skyscrapers of Old Chicago from much closer.

Architecture alone couldn’t hold her attention, though, as a light blast of arc energy filled the air. Nadiya could feel the current through her armor, glancing back as Lee lit up fluorescent blue. She held a staff behind her back crackling with electricity, tiny bolts flitting off as she kicked down the door.

Nadiya could only imagine the carnage inside the room from halfway up the stairs. Lee’s staff sounded like a motor, purring as it spun its way through prey. Fallen squeals were silenced effortlessly, leaving nothing left but the dull hum of Lee’s Light after only a few moments.

The Arcstrider exited the room looking no worse for wear, already brandishing her cannon. “Another day at the office,” Bluejay said coyly, only for Nadiya to hear.

Nadiya couldn’t decide whether to laugh or be astonished by her fellow Hunter’s display. She’d dismantled what had sounded like half a dozen Fallen in just a few seconds. To be a fly on the wall…

Regardless, Fireteam Gamma proceeded to the roof, which was thankfully barren of landmarks besides the radio tower. Nadiya’s tight grip on her rifle loosened at the lack of Fallen, exhaling strongly. She wasn’t threatened by the prospect of some dreg getting the jump on her, but it still managed to stress her out.

Brand and Lee seemed comparatively nonchalant, the two veterans advancing on the radio tower’s base. The tower stretched maybe twenty feet high, an old human design that had been defaced with Fallen amplifiers. And yet, Nadiya’s view of the tower was easily overshadowed by the ketch overhead.

Brand had already let his ghost loose on the control panel at the tower’s base. Dismas made some low, disappointed chirps as he inspected the console. “It seems Rattler destroyed the control panel to make sure Fallen could no longer use it.”

“A futile effort,” the Warlock said gravely, running a hand over the exposed wires and motherboards. “No doubt to hamper the Fallen’s establishments within Chicago, but ultimately insignificant.”

“The Fallen don’t need to be quiet out here,” Lee agreed, folding her arms. “They’re the predators. We’re the prey.”

Nadiya was put off by the statement. Were they that outmatched out here? “What happens now, then? There’s nothing useful to be gained from the tower?”

“Any capabilities it had of recording conversations were dismantled by the Fallen welding their own designs atop it,” Brand responded. “And whatever conventional use we could have found has been punched to pieces.”

“Titans…” Lee muttered. The bright centers of her electric green eyes seemed to roll.

Nadiya looked between her two superiors. “So…?”

“So we post up here,” Lee said, drawing her sniper. “And wait for any sign of Rattler or the Scars. Sparrows, skiffs, gunfire, spikes in Light radiation. Can’t track without a trail.”

“Though we ought to consider a more defensible position,” Brand noted, starry visage craning upwards to the ketch. “We cannot assume we won’t be spotted if we remain open to the Fallen’s prying eyes.”

Nadiya followed his gaze, watching the ketch above. No doubt they were ants from the ketch’s view, but one unlucky break, and the ketch could send legions of Fallen after them.

The ketch seemed to sit there ominously, observing the city below. A Guardian killer resided upon it. Not that Nadiya felt a kinship there. Though, she wondered what else they were capable of…


	4. Chapter 4

Cradled between his claws, the ghost seemed strangely insignificant. Any mechanical sign of life left the creature days before, and yet Taniks couldn’t help but stare at the orb, waiting for any sign of life.

The ghost’s eye was shattered, but the core itself remained intact. A lucky shot that the baron would have to pass off as superior skill. Too often, fellow Fallen of his echelon bragged about their conquests. Killing a Guardian naturally ranked among their most revered actions, although it was also among the hardest to prove.

The eye would garner Taniks respect. The dregs and vandals that served him would admire his worship his work. His captains would admire it. And perhaps, the Guardians would fear it.

Why stop now?

Taniks sat forward, peering into the dead ghost’s core. How strange it was that this tiny machine lay dead in his hands, forever a shell of what it once was. A tool, perhaps, to allow the humans to cheat death. But that was a serious downplaying of the tool’s purpose.

The ghosts lived. They spoke, had thoughts and feelings, shared bonds. Taniks hadn’t gotten to know this particular one before he’d jabbed its eye with a shock blade, but he knew it’d been sentient. Some brave Eliksni had tried to reason with humans, understand them. Perhaps the Fallen learned something from this, but those brave souls seldom survived for long. The humans were hostile. They had more to protect.

The Great Machine. The Traveler. The Eliksni had designed their servitors in the machine god’s image, worshipping them as a surrogate. Pitiful, really.

To copy the Great Machine, as if the next great force in the cosmos would not transcend its design instead of mirroring it. Perhaps the ghosts and their lightbearers were the next to tip the scales of the universe’s balance. If so, Taniks wasn’t worried. He held the bones of one of these gods in his hand. Like a toy.

The high baron wheezed a broken laugh, his thorax still injured from the Titan’s fist. Taniks had built a reputation for fighting alongside his subjects, but that came with risks. And the surviving two Guardians would lick their wounds much more efficiently than he could.

No matter. Aboard the Kaliks-Syn, he was as protected as he desired. Across the room was his pilot servitor, lodged into the ketch, awaiting any order. Among him were perhaps twenty dregs or vandals. Some were reavers, assigned here to protect their baron from any presumable threat. They and the dregs below them were at Taniks’s beck and call. Here, he could recuperate in peace.

The baron rested for a few more minutes, eyes glazed over as he turned the ghost over in his hands. The ketch’s pilot servitor, hanging from the ceiling across from him, blurted some electronic announcement. Taniks snapped to focus as the entry door to the bridge slid open, revealing a captain striding urgently towards her superior.

The captain was Jorkas, Taniks’s lead reaver. She had been assigned to the Kaliks-Syn in the wake of the Scar’s skirmishes with the House of Winter some years before, where she’d proven her valor. Although she was no baron, she commanded respect from her fellow Fallen.

Taniks was not so easily swayed.

Jorkas knelt at her baron’s feet, a careful show of respect. “My liege, Taniks.” She spoke Errata more gracefully than Taniks ever could. Perhaps her family had been nobles before the Whirlwind. A privilege that meant nothing these days.

“Report,” Taniks growled, voice gravelly as he feigned disinterest, his eyes inspecting the ghost shell. A reminder of what he was capable of.

“A message from our kell, the glorious Dorxis,” Jorkas announced, her eyes shooting up to Taniks. “He requests your cooperation in a new set of house affairs.”

Taniks finally met the captain’s gaze, aware of his intimidating height advantage. The extra ether afforded to Fallen of his class had quite the effect on their stature. “Elaborate,” he said coldly.

“Dorxis requests that the Kaliks-Syn be moved north, away from Old Chicago,” Jorkas continued. “In the polar regions of the Great White, our kell’s forces have met head on with the House of Devils. He demands that all available forces converge on our Terran base and drive the Devils away.”

“Does he?” Taniks replied, voice tinged with intrigue. A kell’s command is not one to be ignored. But when a more fruitful opportunity presents itself…

Taniks leaned forward, dwarfing the young reaver. “Tell Dorxis that we will be on our way within days. Our scavenging operations in Chicago are too dug in to be abandoned without completion.”

“Yes, my liege,” Jorkas said, beginning to rise to her feet.

“I’m not finished!” Taniks roared, sending the bridge into a hushed panic. He felt the eyes of terrified Fallen all around him. _That_ was the respect Jorkas should strive for.

“Begin evacuation orders on our scavenger skiffs around the city. Official reports should list an unfortunate lack of supplies in the last few days of our work here. Any Scar under my command that refuses to keep quiet about that will be docked and slaughtered by yours truly.”

Taniks stood from his chair, orange cape finally stretching out to enunciate his regality. “And Jorkas, prepare your reavers. I want to find those other two Guardians.”

“Yes, my liege,” Jorkas confirmed, turning and leaving for the ketch’s barracks. The dregs and vandals in the bridge turned back to their work as their baron scanned the room for dissent.

The House of Scar had already been crippled by their Winter counterparts. Taniks was no ideologue. These banners represented a sinking ship, one that may be making its last stand in the Great White as he lived and breathed.

If he could arrive to find the belabored survivors of Dorxis’s failure, with three ghosts in his possession… There’d be no question to his authority.

Taniks wheezed a broken laugh to himself. The Titan would regret not finishing him when they’d had the chance. Taniks was a murderer, and a particularly talented one at that.

* * *

With only moonlight illuminating the city streets, Nadiya had to concentrate hard to notice movement. A shift in color just outside of her scout rifle’s aim triggered a quick shift in aim, only to find a few cranes picking for food in the swamp. Another false alarm.

Nadiya leaned back, looking back up to the ketch above. The dull orange light of its engines reflected against old skyscrapers, a harrowing image to say the least. She’d been keeping watch on the fire escape for two hours now, and the ketch was seemingly immobile. A few skiffs transmatted in and out of it every once in a while, scattering around Old Chicago for some unknown reason. It was impossible to tell where Fireteam Rattler was.

The Gunslinger absent-mindedly checked the magazine loaded into her scout rifle. Full, of course. She clicked it back into place. She knew Bluejay wouldn’t screw up reloading her weapon, but it was _something_ to do…

A shuffling to her left snapped her back into focus. Brand was climbing through the window to the fire escape, instantly recognizable by his helmet. And the fact that a Hunter like Lee would’ve been more quiet-footed.

Nadiya brushed some black hair away from her eye before aiming back down her rifle’s scope, trying to appear vigilant. She had never tried putting on a show to get close to Bruce’s refugees in a month and half, but with two Guardians, she felt obligated to appear somewhat useful.

Unfortunately, it was impossible to tell whether the façade worked on Brand. The Warlock leaned against the brick wall, stretching his legs out through the fire escape’s bars. He let out a robotic exhale from behind a wall of nebulae. “Couldn’t sleep.”

Nadiya glanced over. “I didn’t ask you or Lee earlier, why do you have to sleep?” She mulled it over for a moment, trying not to be offensive. “I thought the two of you were, um, robots, or something.”

Brand made a sound approximating a chuckle. He raised his hand, holding it flat for his ghost to appear. “Dismas, my helmet, if you would.”

His ghost tangled strands of light against Brand’s helmet, before it vanished to reveal his face. The exo’s visage was matte black, with purple eyes and four short antennae stretching from his temple.

“Not quite a robot. But I understand the confusion,” Brand corrected her, metal forming a low smile. “Robots would be entirely artificial. But an exo body is merely a frame for my very human mind.”

Nadiya pursed her lips. “So your body has to recharge? Or something?”

“No,” Brand said, stifling a laugh. “Exo bodies were at the peak of Golden Age innovation. Their design wouldn’t have been intentionally hampered by something so trivial.”

He shook his head, hazarding a glance at the looming ketch. “Our minds were born into human bodies, we lived normal lives. Seemingly no matter how advanced the technology of the time was, scientists were unable to make the transition to an exo body perfect. My mind is constantly rejecting this body, as if it knows it isn’t quite human. I’m consciously aware of that, of course, but that primal intuition inside is a balance I can’t quite control.”

Brand turned back to Nadiya. “Thus, we eat, sleep, whatever normal bodily function you can imagine. All so that our subconscious doesn’t reject our new form. My mind gets tired, or hungry, even if there’s no physical reason for me to partake in such actions. It is an action to protect our mental health, not physical.”

Nadiya nodded. “I guess there’s a lot I don’t understand.”

“Please don’t fret about it,” Brand replied. A snap of his fingers willed Dismas to replace his helmet. Just like that, the exo’s face was hidden once more behind a glimpse of the universe. “My knowledge on such subjects comes from much time spent in the Last City. Not being a Warlock. You’ll come to understand so much about this world.”

“What’s it like?” Nadiya asked, tracking a deer as it moved through ankle deep water in a sunken alley. “The Last City?”

“Well, it’s all we’ve got,” Brand said, tinged with quiet sadness. “But it’s wonderful there. Of course, there’s other pockets of humanity around the solar system. Not like that, though. The most recent censuses put us at nearly a million people. Maybe a thousand Guardians? It’s something special.”

Brand paused for a moment. Nadiya looked on with admiration, willing him to go on. “It’s not the Golden Age, you know. We have walls to keep out Fallen, we have to track the skies for foreign ships. The Traveler… doesn’t do anything.

“But it’s special. Having it hovering there, over the largest congregation of people in hundreds of years, it’s humbling. Enough to make you feel like another cog in the wheel. But I never felt like that. I was given the chance to be a Guardian. To protect that dream of a brighter future, and as a Warlock, to try and advance our society back to the days before the Collapse.”

Brand seemed to look down, cracking his knuckles. “We, as Guardians, we’ve inherited the responsibility of the Traveler on our own backs. That’s a lot of weight for comparatively few people to carry. And I won’t pretend that I’m not enjoying myself. Being able to experiment with life and death, to see the world – even in its dilapidated state – is a gift. But the pressure builds up. I know I may come off strange, but I’m human too. I feel it.

“But looking out at the Last City, seeing what all of my work is building towards, what it’s protecting. It makes it all worth it. It’s awe-inspiring.”

“I can’t wait,” Nadiya said. She went back to scanning the streets around them, looking for any sign of encroaching Fallen.

The two waited in silence for a few minutes. Brand cradled a festering orb of purple light in his hand, small tendrils of what Nadiya presumed was the void enveloping his hand as it grew in power. With a flick of his wrist, the orb vanished, manifested and extinguished at his will.

“Why couldn’t you sleep?” Nadiya asked. She hoped it didn’t come off as passive aggressive, but she couldn’t help but feel like the Warlock was watching her work. It was _her_ shift as lookout.

Brand gave a light shrug. “I don’t sleep well when out in the field. Plus I kept the Verse on to try and amplify my dreaming. While it may help with that, it makes the initial act of falling asleep quite difficult.”

“The Verse?” Suffice to say, Brand’s answer had raised a lot more questions than the one he’d been meant to answer.

The Warlock pointed to his helmet. “The Astrocyte Verse. Surely you’ve noticed the peculiar nature of my helmet.”

Nadiya nodded. “Hard not to.”

“Indeed,” Brand said. “It’s quite the exotic piece of gear. Though its practical reason is centered around enhancing my teleportation, I am more interested in its implicit benefit. When the Verse closes around my head, as such-” Brand made a waving motion towards his helm. “I am able to will my flesh and nervous system into pure thought. Which, as you can imagine, is extremely useful in the pursuit of science.”

The Gunslinger laughed nervously, staring into the helmet once again. So, his head could simply vanish behind the helmet’s dimensions? Suddenly, the stars glistening atop the helm appeared less tacky, and an actual reflection of the armor’s strange power.

“I really can’t imagine,” Nadiya replied, turning back to her scout. “My armor’s great, but I hadn’t considered it doing much more than keeping me comfortable. Or alive.”

“Fair enough.” Brand conjured another ball of void, twirling it around in his hand as if it were a toy. “My dreams are already vivid, but I hope to be able to tap into the life beyond through the Verse. My methods are, admittedly, too complicated to explain without distracting you from your duty.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Nadiya said, continuing her survey. “But, do you mind if I ask some questions? I don’t mean to pry.”

“I’d relish at the opportunity,” Brand said excitedly. “Lee-4 is a fantastic shot, but she lacks inquisitiveness. Even for a Hunter.”

“Well, it might just be because I’m new to all this,” Nadiya retorted, trying not to flatter herself. “Anyways, my question: you said earlier that you’d never asked an Awoken what we see beyond life.”

“Oh, yes!” Brand exclaimed. The void orb glowed with increased intensity. “I can make it silent in order to keep our low profile from the Fallen.”

“Wait, what?” Nadiya was alarmed, to say the least.

“Your first death. I can make it quick, quiet, and easy. Relatively painless.”

“No!” The Hunter scrambled backward a yard or so, a little frightened. The fire escape’s shrill whining reminded her to be a tad more nimble. “I _don’t_ want to die.”

Brand seemed confused, holding his orb disappointedly before snapping it out of existence. “Suit yourself. But I suggest you get it over with sooner rather than later. It’s routine for us Guardians, but you always remember your first time. I’d rather go under quietly than be torn apart by the Fallen.”

Nadiya shuddered at the insinuation. But she didn’t budge. “Please, don’t kill me. I think we have enough enemies out there.” She hesitated to admit out loud she was morbidly afraid.

The Warlock simply shrugged. “I won’t kill you. Not without your expressed consent. It would be rude.” He extended a hand for a shake. “On my order’s word.”

“Your order?”

“The Voidwalkers.”

“Oh. Right.” Nadiya inched closer and clasped Brand’s gauntlet. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” the Warlock said, unable to hide his disappointment. “Though, what did you mean to ask me if not for an accelerated demise?”

“You mentioned the Awoken. The Warlord, Bruce, he called me that. But I don’t really know what that is. Neither does my ghost. I just know that I have blue skin.” Nadiya scratched her neck nervously. It felt embarrassing to ask about, though she knew full well it was impossible for her to know.

Then again, Brand was an exo. Not exactly a ‘normal’ human himself. “Don’t fret. It’s a difficult question, largely because I don’t have an entirely concrete answer for you.”

“Oh.”

“Here’s what I do know. Which is largely the City’s knowledge. I’ve tried reading up on the Awoken as much as I can, but frankly your race remains somewhat of a mystery…” Brand began, shaking his head. “Apologies. I find myself rambling when out of my comfort zone.

“The Awoken were born out of some twisted marriage of Light and Dark. When the Collapse happened, the great paracausal forces of this universe used our solar system as a battleground. A pocket of humanity was caught at some junction between the two, creating the Awoken.

“You were born out of some myriad of influence from those powers. Your former self, at least. Before you became a Guardian.” Brand lifted his hands in apparent defeat. “Although that is merely a conceptual answer. Not all too specific.”

“That’s something,” Nadiya said, fascinated. “What more do you know?”

“Not much,” Brand replied, clearly disappointed in his own ignorance. “The Awoken were created as the Collapse was happening, and thus we should have answers from them. But they were not born on Earth, nor any of the few planets we’ve been able to scout so far. We have too few resources to explore the cosmos and neglect our home, as much as I’d love to.

“Alas, where the Awoken reside is unknown. The few who came to the Last City are tight-lipped, a secret that unifies their people.” Brand shrugged. “They insist the answer would be of no use to the City. I find that hard to believe.”

“Well, I wish that I could tell you,” Nadiya offered. “Had I retained my memories, I would if I could.”

“No matter. There are infinite mysteries in our universe. One more unanswered question is merely a drop in the bucket,” Brand reassured her. “Yet, it bothers me. It seems like a question we ought to know by now. There aren’t many Awoken in the City, but I would’ve thought one would speak out by now.

“Even fewer Awoken Guardians, but it’d be foolish to look to you all for answers. Besides, none of the Awoken lightbearers seem to share my curiosity for life after death. If they’re unwilling to collaborate with me on a comparatively trivial pursuit, then I guess I’m asking the wrong questions.”

Nadiya felt a strange pang of guilt. She rested a hand on the Warlock’s shoulder. “Brand, when I _do_ die, I promise I’ll explain what I see.”

“I’d appreciate that,” the Voidwalker said.

“It’s the least I can do,” Nadiya assured him, withdrawing her hand. “Thank you for giving me some idea of who I am.”

“ _What_ you are,” Brand corrected her. “You are an Awoken, a Guardian, a Hunter, a Gunslinger. These are all labels, though. _Who_ you are is entirely up to you.”

The phrasing was cliché even to Nadiya, in all her naivety, but the sentiment was appreciated. “Thank you, Brand.”

“Of course,” he responded. “Is there anything else on your mind?”

“Sure,” Nadiya said. She’d given up trying to appear entirely vigilant. Besides, the Warlock was basically inviting her to relax. “You’re very insistent that you don’t know what Awoken would see in between resurrections, but what do the rest of you see?”

“Hm. For humans, that’s easy to answer,” Brand started, resting his head against the brick wall once more. “There’s an apparent nothingness for humans after death. As if no time passed at all in between one life and the other. It seems that whatever afterlife exists for humanity, if one exists at all, is dependent on true, final death. Even that is somewhat sacrilege for me to admit. Many in the City see the Traveler as their god.”

“And you don’t?”

“Not necessarily. The Traveler is a paracausal force of the Light. Immeasurably powerful. Think of how technologically advanced your ghost is. In each and every single one of its purposes.”

“Why thank you,” Bluejay said, appearing next to Nadiya to receive the compliment.

Brand paid him no mind. “Artificial intelligence, both emotional and logical, on the level of humanity. Seemingly vast storage capabilities. The capability to resurrect long-dead individuals, as well as the same person numerous times. And an acting conduit for the Light flowing through us, extending its magical properties for us to wield as a weapon.

“These are all functions of the ghost that travels with any given Guardian. The Traveler _created them_. It is a force so dramatically large in magnitude that the ghosts, something we can barely scientifically understand, are its spawn. It terraforms worlds. It does… whatever happened during the Collapse. However it sacrificed itself to save us from the Darkness, it must have been too much for the mind to comprehend.

“It does not surprise me that people worship it. It has given humanity everything we’ve needed to survive the encroaching forces of the universe that would’ve killed us otherwise. It granted the two of us second lives.” Brand paused for a moment. “But I don’t believe it to be a god, strictly.”

“Why not?” Nadiya asked. “Not that I’m arguing one way or the other. I’m just curious.”

“Never apologize for wishing to know more,” Brand said. “I hinge my belief on an old principle, from well before the Golden Age. That any technology far advanced enough from the societal status quo can simply be interpreted as magic. ‘Magic’ has a connotation of something beyond us, something god-like. Perhaps the Traveler is a god. But I’d prefer to think, or at least hope, that it something we may truly understand some day.”

“Hm.” Nadiya was fascinated by the response. It was a lot to wrap her head around, but Brand’s answers seemed so much more in depth than what milquetoast responses Bluejay had been able to offer.

“Regardless, I’ve gone off topic,” Brand noted, throwing his hands up. “You asked of the dreams we have after death. For humanity, nothing. But for exos… The answer is seemingly more complicated.”

Nadiya leaned forward with intrigue. “Go on.”

“After death, I’ve experienced visions. Not unlike the theorized messages from the Traveler. Though, the separating factor is the shared experience between myself and other exos I’ve interviewed on the subject.”

Brand cradled his helmet, as if he were having a headache remembering the experience. “Visions of towers of ice, vast subterranean fortresses. Falling, endlessly, into these cold caves. Balancing on a knife’s edge. And killing people I know…” The Warlock shook his head, coming back to reality. “The sense of a perturbed reality is shared between these visions and human dreams, no doubt. And yet, the fact that us exos seem to share these same, very specific ideas… It is perplexing to say the least.”

He turned back to Nadiya, calmer. “Perhaps it is some sign of a shared conscious, that we are somehow fragmented parts of a whole from wherever we were created. No doubt those visions mean something. But what?

“Thus, I try to explore further. To note down every detail I can remember when I am resurrected. Compare ideas with other exos that find the phenomenon curious. Try to venture into that realm of dreams while I’m still alive, using the Astrocyte Verse.” Brand tapped his helmet, as if Nadiya had forgotten about it. “It’s grueling work, to try to be enthusiastic about your own death. But there must be some mystery with very nature of us exos that I’m on the trail of.”

Nadiya leaned back forward with her scout rifle as she took it all in. “Well, I wish you the best of luck. I wish I could help, but all of that seems a little beyond me.”

The two sat a while longer in silence. Brand meditated, crossing his legs as he floated a few inches above the fire escape. Nadiya continued scanning the streets below, every so often turning her aim to the ketch hovering above. Skiffs darted in and out of it like bees to and from a hive. It was disconcerting.

Another hour passed like this. Nadiya had chosen the last shift before daybreak, leaving them at almost nine hours of scouting for any signs. A light drizzle of warm rain had begun, the lowest of the dark clouds interspersed between the ketch and skyscrapers. Bluejay gave it another couple hours until the sun rose.

Brand woke from his trance suddenly, startled. The abrupt end of his levitation sent him crashing onto the fire escape, making Nadiya’s spine jump. No more than a second later, an explosion boomed in the distance, a plume of fire rising about six blocks northeast.

“I sensed a disturbance in the void,” Brand said, flustered. He picked himself off the ground as Lee hopped through the window urgently. “Rattler’s Titan is a Sentinel. He just tore a vast amount of power from beyond the veil.”

“Royce?” the Arcstrider queried, lifting her sniper to her eye. “And what does that mean for us?”

“It means we have found our missing Guardians,” Brand announced. “And the House of Scar could likely say the same.”


	5. Chapter 5

Fireteam Gamma moved deftly under cover of night. After a quick descent down to street level from the fire escape, the three Guardians moved in the direction of the explosion. The distant rumblings of gunfire confirmed they were headed in the right direction. Nadiya followed the others, watching their six.

They leapt between whatever stable ground rose from the ankle-high mud. Nadiya had almost questioned the process before Brand noted that a Fallen tactic he’d read about was hiding mines beneath mud when possible. Lee had quickly confirmed her experience with it.

The process was slower than riding a sparrow above the muck, but that was a fair compromise. Their engines would be a dead giveaway to the Fallen of their approach. Not to mention Nadiya already had her work cut out for her. There was no way for her to accurately scan each passing building façade while keeping up the pace.

Even that pace was inefficient. It took them almost five minutes to make it two blocks north, checking for snipers and hidden explosives all the while. Beneath her armor, Nadiya’s skin crawled. The air seemed still, punctuated only by the groans of metal under their feet and the distant booms of war. The slow drizzle of rain was practically silent.

The gunfire stopped eventually. They were only halfway north, after which they’d still have to turn right. No signs of skiffs low to the ground, meaning they hadn’t been spotted by the Fallen masses. Nadiya still felt watched. Was it baseless suspicion, or her Hunter instincts telling her to be ready for an ambitious?

More than ever, the ketch hanging over Chicago offered an oppressive darkness. It didn’t matter who had built this city centuries before. They were in Scar territory.

After almost twenty minutes of paranoid marching, Lee finally turned to her right at the sixth intersection. Nadiya followed from almost twenty feet back, keeping the group dispersed in case of ambush, but could hear her gasp from here.

To the east was what had once been a bridge over a river, the water having now flooded its entire manmade canal. Water still flowed here, slow and putrid, barely identifiable amid the rest of the swamp due to being caked with moss and reeds.

And yet, that was not the fascinating thing. Nature had taken back the city, but the slow passage of time was far from the first threat on Nadiya’s mind. The Scars were.

Here, on this overgrown path to the deeper recesses of Chicago, laid a graveyard. Fallen bodies laid mangled across the road. Some were strewn atop what little dry ground remained, others sunk into the mud. Most were chewed to pieces by blades or gunfire, other crumpled by overwhelming strength.

“Guardians did this,” Lee-4 confirmed, kneeling above a vandal that leaked ether from where its head had once been. “Royce and Yvette, no doubt.”

As Lee and Brand inspected the remains of some particularly decimated Scars, Nadiya turned around to check the street from the west. “Guys,” she said, “I think we found the source of that explosion.”

The open air on the east had distracted them from the hulking wreckage of a Fallen skiff, resting atop the street a half block west. It still smoked, much of its frame charred from a fire that had broken out. Nadiya couldn’t help but think back to the skiff Bruce had tackled out of the sky.

“See the incision?” Lee said, pointing towards a hole in the back of the skiff. “Rocket impact point. You can tell by the lack of precision; if it had been an engine failure, the explosion would’ve come from an exhaust port.”

“Not to mention we can confirm Guardian involvement, as you already theorized,” Brand interjected, tearing away the tattered cloak of a dead captain. The burnt orange insignia of House Scar was splotched with mud and liquified ether. “This was a massacre.”

“They’re acting rash. Letting the death of Jacobsen get to their heads,” Lee said.

“I thought they were laying low until help arrived,” Nadiya said. She scanned the buildings around them anxiously. They were extremely exposed out here.

“Obviously something changed,” Lee responded. “They were supposed to observe and report. Things didn’t go according to plan, but that doesn’t mean you try to wipe the House of Scar off the face of the earth.”

Bluejay appeared next to Nadiya. “You sound pretty sympathetic for the Fallen.”

Lee-4 scoffed. “The Fallen can burn in hell. But this…” The exo gestured to the trail of dead bodies. “This is just stupid.”

She turned back to Bluejay, still scowling. “Don’t make baseless accusations, _ghost_. I’ve likely killed more Fallen than your Guardian has even seen.”

“I have a name,” Nadiya said.

“I know,” Lee countered. “Don’t take me chastising your ghost as an insult to you. The damn things need a reality check once in a while.”

“If you could quit your bickering,” Brand interrupted, “I believe I’ve found something pertinent to our investigation.”

The two Hunters approached the Warlock, who was knelt on a dry patch of ground. His ghost, Dismas, scanned the pavement, which was strangely clear of swamp water. There was, however, a drying bloodstain, distinguishable from Fallen ether by its familiar red tint. Though that wasn’t what Dismas seemed interested in.

“Vestiges of void light,” the ghost said. Its voice was deep, almost unnatural for a tiny floating robot.

“This was the site of the disturbance I felt earlier,” Brand explained, drifting his fingers across the pavement. He felt something there that Nadiya couldn’t perceive. “Royce must have cast his Ward of Dawn here, though it required considerable more effort than is usual for a Sentinel.”

“What does that mean?” Nadiya asked.

Brand’s gloves gestured towards the bloodstain. “Either he was mortally wounded as he called the Ward, or he attempted to hold it for longer than usual. Likely to protect an injured Yvette, in that scenario.”

“Yet no sign of where they moved next,” Lee noted. She stared out at the bridge, littered with the work of the missing lightbearers. “They were injured after this carnage, much of those bodies have been dead longer than that blood has been pooled. Moving on from here, though…”

“How can you tell that’s the timeline?” Nadiya asked.

Lee seemed annoyed by the question. “Hunter’s intuition.” It was more dismissive than instructive.

“Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find any further clues either,” Brand concluded, more disappointed than worried. “Without any trace of their next move, I believe that we should break radio silence. We’ve spent enough time waiting and tailing Fireteam Rattler. We should at least attempt to make contact with them. Fallen eavesdropping be damned.”

The suggestion was an implied deferral to Lee, fireteam leader. She mulled it over for a second, metal face emotionless in the moment. Finally, she gave a curt nod.

Lee pulled out her ghost. “Transmit the following to all local City-used channels. Attention Fireteam Rattler. This is Lee-4 of Fireteam Gamma. We have been tracking you for assisted exfiltration, but our trail has gone cold. We are currently at-”

The blue-white beam of a wire rifle zipped past Lee’s ghost, missing by inches. “Scars!” Nadiya exclaimed. Her surprised callout was lost on the other Guardians, who were already spreading out with weapons in hand. All ghosts vanished into thin air. That had been too close to call.

Nadiya sprinted into an old café, its windows shattered years before. She ducked for cover behind the counter, taking a moment to think. The Fallen could be all over the place. The Scars were hunting _them_.

She checked the safety on her scout. A modded Armillary PSU, Bluejay had explained. Standardized high-caliber rounds and quickdraw grip, but with a unique suppressor added onto the barrel. Arno’s handiwork.

The Hunter caught her breath and leaned over the countertop, bracing the rifle’s bipod against the slick countertop. The once pristine café was now overgrown with fungus, marble floors buried underneath stagnant swamp water. What little light the moon had provided seldom made its way inside here.

Her short-range radio channel flared up through Bluejay. “Shit!” It was Lee-4’s voice, somewhere else in the buildings around the intersection. “We’ve got reavers!”

“Does anyone have a defensible position?” Brand asked. “I’m currently using the worst cover imaginable.”

“Come to my position!” Nadiya said. “Coffee shop, northwestern building of the intersection! I’ll watch the street!”

The Gunslinger vaulted over the counter and made her way towards the absent windows. She could see Brand hustling over, his blinks between structures jutting out from the swamp surprisingly graceful. He never seemed to break momentum.

Nadiya noticed the glint of a Fallen wire rifle in the window of the building behind the Warlock. Fourth floor, exposed, charging up a shot towards the Voidwalker’s back. Nadiya quickly flicked her aim towards it and fired a volley of shots. The Armillary’s scope didn’t have too much zoom for a scout, but enough to see the satisfying wisps of ether leave the vandal’s head.

She picked off a couple other snipers, clearing the way on her right for Lee as she approached. Nadiya paused to reload, scoping back in, oblivious to her surroundings…

Lee’s shouted warning came too late. A vandal dropped from the ceiling of the café, its cloaking device deactivating as it plunged a spear through Nadiya’s right shoulder. Her upper body screamed with pain, the tearing of flesh combining with a charge of electricity from the spear’s tip.

Nadiya dropped to the floor, the spear exiting through her back. The vandal landed just in front of her, snarling in pride. It twisted the spear within her, cuing Nadiya to groan in agony. She couldn’t move her right arm, couldn’t use her rifle.

The surprise of pain finally cleared enough for adrenaline to take over. The Hunter reached for her knife with her left hand, unsheathing it and plunging it into the vandal’s throat within a couple seconds. Its many eyes widened with surprise, unclear that it could be bested. Ether leaked out of the vandal’s thorax, soaking Nadiya. The substance burned against her wound.

She ripped the knife back out, leaving the Scar to crumple backwards against the ground. This revealed Brand approaching, scout raised, still ready to fire.

“Apologies, Nadiya. I didn’t think I had a shot,” the Warlock said. He stood over her now, the Astrocyte Verse hiding his expression. “I can put you under to make this go away.”

“Put me under?” Nadiya whispered, struggling to find her voice. “No… Please don’t kill…”

“It’ll be a lot easier on you,” Brand assured her, kneeling down. His exotic scout was still trained at her face. “Just say the word. I promise it’ll be painless.”

“Traveler’s sake, Brand. Listen to what the girl’s telling you!” Lee finally caught up, shoving the Warlock aside. “We’re gonna have to tear the spear out before your ghost can patch you up. Can you stand?”

Nadiya nodded lightly. She grit her teeth as she was helped to her feet by the other Hunter. Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead. The pain was making her dizzy.

“Okay. I’m gonna walk you to cover, okay?” Lee helped her hobble over, practically carrying the Gunslinger’s entire weight. “Brand, watch our six! Make sure no other reavers sneak in here.”

“Got it.”

The two Hunters circled around the counter Nadiya had hid behind earlier, now an insurmountable obstacle. Lee set her down against the wall, leaning on her left shoulder so the spear’s tip had no other applied pressure.

Bluejay appeared in front of his Guardian now that it was safe. “Don’t worry, Nadiya. Just stay with me. Focus on the sound of our voices.” He released a few spindles of light which removed her helmet. The open air felt somewhat refreshing.

Nadiya concentrated on her little drone friend, floating so close to her. She could barely make out his details, her vision blurry. Everything seemed so fuzzy. But she willed herself to stay conscious. Beneath all the overwhelming pain, she was still afraid.

“I’m going to tear out the spear, okay?” Lee’s optics narrowed with concern. “This is going to hurt. A lot.”

The Gunslinger nodded in approval, barely registering a few gunshots from Brand’s rifle towards encroaching Fallen. She felt the tension of the spear as Lee grabbed its wooden handle. Somehow, the pain had faded a bit, only for it to flare back up in that moment.

“One. Two. Three!”

The blade ripping back out of her shoulder was somehow worse than entry. Nadiya screamed for a split second. This was so much worse than any injury she’d sustained thus far. Carved by Fallen swords, stung by shock rounds… Nothing could compare.

“Hold on, Nadiya!” Bluejay reassured her. He scanned the wound before getting to work on fixing it, beams of energy sewing muscle back together, repairing nerve damage, growing chipped bone back into place and grafting skin. The sensation was like hot water being dumped over her shoulder, scalding enough to make her wince in pain despite being strangely refreshing.

After a minute, her shoulder was as good as new. Despite a few tingling sensations and a hastily repaired scar on her chest piece, she was no worse for wear. Nadiya sighed in relief, her head collapsing against the mossy wall behind her. It was finally over.

Lee continued staring at the Gunslinger shrewdly. “You’re gonna have to die eventually. You owe me one.”

Nadiya exhaled strongly, trying not to laugh. She pushed aside her hair that had matted against her forehead. “Thank you. And I’m sorry.” It was hard to explain. As awful as that pain had been, how much worse could death be? And yet it terrified her still.

“You’ll need better armor, too,” the Arcstrider chastised, before turning to scan past the café counter.

Bluejay made an aggravated beep. “Sure. It’s not like I didn’t try my best sewing this all together. So ungrateful…”

Nadiya giggled softly, cupping her ghost in her hands. “Don’t worry, buddy. I know you’re doing an awesome job. Thanks for the patchwork.”

Her ghost nuzzled against her hand before vanishing. Nadiya took another deep breath before shakily getting to her feet just in time to see Brand backing into the café.

“Just saw a skiff take off from around the corner. I believe we’re in the clear for the time being,” he announced. The Warlock lowered his rifle and gave Nadiya a passing glance. “Sooner or later, blueberry.”

“What?”

“Brand!” Lee’s voice was tinged with annoyance. She turned back to Nadiya. “Just a stupid nickname for new Guardians. Don’t worry about it.”

The Gunslinger nodded, staring back out at the massacred remains of Rattler’s handiwork. “So, are Royce and Yvette that much better than us.”

“Of course not,” the Warlock immediately dismissed. “We were just attacked by reavers. Higher ranking Fallen. Smarter, stronger, better equipped.”

“How can you be so sure?” Nadiya asked.

The stars on the Astrocyte Verse seemed to flare with intensity. “Because they retreated on their own terms. Because their armor was stronger than the average Fallen. Because I know what I’m talking about, Nadiya. Don’t forget that.”

“I was just curious,” she replied, putting her hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Lee assured her. “Reavers are elite Fallen. Ten of them practically equal a hundred normal grunts. That was your first run-in with them? Fine. Don’t let them sneak up on you again.”

Nadiya nodded. “Thanks.”

“Well, if the commotion’s over, we ought to get back to what we were doing,” Brand said. “Namely getting into contact with Fireteam Rattler.”

“Agreed,” Lee said, pulling her ghost out once more. “Les, reopen local channels and broadcast the following:”

Before Lee could begin, however, a voice filled their radio feeds from the other end.

“So freaking dark… I don’t know why I got my hopes up. Stupid. Stupid. Who knows where he is now…”

The three Guardians exchanged nervous glances. Lee continued as planned. “Hello? This is Lee-4 of Fireteam Gamma. Who is on this line?”

The voice chirped in excitement. “Oh my goodness! Finally! I’ve been talking to myself on this feed since you first said something five minutes ago! Where did you go?”

“We were occupied with Scar reavers,” Lee responded, professional as always. “I repeat, who is on this line?”

“Sorry! That must’ve been y’all with the snipers,” the voice said. “I’m Morgan. Ghost of Royce, Titan of Fireteam Rattler.”

The Gamma Guardians exchanged a more confident look. “Fantastic news. We’ve been trying to rendezvous with you all for a day now,” Lee continued. “Where is your position?”

“I’ll send coordinates to your ghost now,” Morgan said. “But I’m all alone.”

“What do you mean?” Lee queried. “Where is Royce? And Yvette?”

Morgan made an uncertain beep on the other end. “I don’t know.”

Lee lead the way out of the café, Brand and Nadiya in close pursuit. “Okay, Morgan. We’re on our way. Tell us everything.”

* * *

The Titan hobbled his way into the room. A hole carved into his left leg’s plasteel armor dripped with blood, yet he focused on the wound in his side. He could feel chunks of metal embedded in his stomach, courtesy of a Fallen shrapnel launcher. His torso seared with pain, but he grit his teeth and limped forward.

Taniks admired his tenacity. Despite the sacrilege of the statement, he admired the very nature of Guardians. They would not – _could not_ – fear death the way the Fallen did. It made them all the more dangerous, and all the more of a challenge for Taniks. No matter. The vast majority of Eliksni seemed to hate the Guardians for stealing their machine god. This was just sport for the baron.

Taniks stepped into the open, revealing himself to the Titan. He sighed gravely, slowly removing his hands from the wound. The human’s face was hidden behind his helmet, but Taniks sensed a weakness in his body language. More than injury, which could be solved quite easily for a Guardian.

The realization made Taniks smile, his chiseled fangs bared with sickening pleasure. Guardians were so often the most dangerous game, and yet without a ghost, this Titan was a wounded animal. No ghost in sight. Had one of Taniks’s underlings already destroyed it?

Regardless, it was an easy target. A broken soldier, lumbering towards his death. The Titan had fought hard to make it here, chasing after the Fallen warrior he hadn’t quite beaten. Beating and gunning his way through dozens, hundreds even, of Taniks’s underlings. A seemingly insurmountable effort, all in the name of revenge. Revenge he would never taste.

Taniks unsheathed two shock blades with his lower arms, his higher ones gripping an oversized scorch cannon tight. Weak as the Guardian may have been, there was no reason to get overconfident. Taniks roared with feigned anger, waiting for his opponent to make the first move.

The Titan reached for a submachine gun, loosely attached to the back of his armor. His motions were slow from exhaustion, as if the tiny gun weighed a ton. He held it with both hands, aiming it square at Taniks’s abdomen, and fired.

The barrage of bullets proved ineffective. The SMG used kinetic ammunition, which glanced uselessly off of Taniks’s arc shield. The Titan unloaded the entire magazine before his shoulders shrunk. He muttered something that Taniks vaguely recognized as a human swear.

Now with the tables completely turned, the high baron closed the difference between them. He stepped slowly, savoring the moment as the Titan dejectedly placed his SMG back on its magnetized sling. Taniks could practically taste the fear behind the Guardian’s mask. Maybe not fear, maybe the utter hopelessness that comes with a surefire loss.

Delicious, either way.

The Titan craned his neck up to get a better look at Taniks’s snarling face. The Titan raised his left arm, a shimmering purple shield projecting from his gauntlet. He said something, and though the baron couldn’t understand the words, he knew the tone. A stubborn challenge. _Just try and kill me._

Taniks was happy to oblige. He swung both shock blades directly at the shield. The impacts sent waves of pain through Taniks’s arms, but it was worth it. The shield, no doubt a projection of the Titan’s Light, was now cracked. The Guardian’s strength was draining.

Though Taniks realized a small detail in his standoff. If the Guardian was able to call a shield from the void, harnessing his Light, then his ghost was still out there. _Alive_.

Suddenly, this was no longer fun. Taniks feinted a jab to his left, queuing the Titan to overextend his arm to block the blow with his shield. It left his right side wide open, allowing Taniks to plunge his other blade into the Guardian’s heart.

The Titan’s armor had been sundered by shrapnel, unrepaired by the absent ghost. He seemed unsurprised, emitting a small gasp of pain before he slouched forward. Dead.

But Guardians were not truly dead in this state. Taniks ripped his shock blade out callously, stowing away his weapons as he leered at the Titan. His blood pooled against the rotted carpet. How pathetic, to see a champion of the Light in such a sorry state. Especially one that had almost bested Taniks in combat only days earlier.

A high-pitched beep through Taniks’s earpiece alerted him to a radio contact. “My liege, Taniks.” It was Jorkas.

“Speak!” the baron growled. Jorkas and her reavers had done excellent work pinching the Guardians, drawing the Titan up here to meet his death. But to show that appreciation was foolhardy. Why give the captain the recognition she must crave?

The captain cleared her throat on the other end of the call. “All scavenging crews have reported back to the Kaliks-Syn. Besides your dropship, my skiff was the last to arrive back. We are ready to exfiltrate from Chicago or proceed otherwise at your order.”

“What of the other Guardian?” Taniks chastised. Had she forgotten his reason for staying in this dreaded swamp? “Did the Hunter best you in combat?”

“Regretfully, my reavers and I lost her amidst their advance on your position.” Jorkas’s flowery Errata made the bad news sound almost poetic. “Though we discovered quite the relevant intel during our retreat.”

“Continue.”

“During our retreat, we were assaulted by three more Guardians. It appears your first victims called for reinforcements.”

The wheels began turning in Taniks’s brain. More Guardians. More threats.

More trophies.

“Command our servitor to position the Kaliks-Syn above the tallest building left,” Taniks ordered, pausing to get his bearings on the city. “Directly northwest of my current position. Align the cargo bay entrance with the tower’s exposed peak. I will return to my ketch shortly.”

“Yes, my liege.” Taniks heard the satisfying beep of the line going quiet. He sighed with pleasure. All this action was more than he had anticipated.

He knelt down, lifting the Titan’s corpse onto his shoulders. Even with four arms, the Titan’s hefty body strained his muscles. A necessary workout.

Taniks knew he wasn’t like the average Fallen. More cutthroat, more dispassionate. Perhaps a bit faithless.

But Dorxis had known this when he’d promoted Taniks. He’d known what he was capable of. Known that he could deliver when no other baron could.

He knew that despite the fall of Eliksni civilization, that there was still some shred of decency in the ruling class of the Houses. Respect, honor, traditions molded out of a broken heritage and a necessity for survival. Yet even with all of that care, the Fallen weren’t as vainly heroic as the Guardians.

They were brash. Foolhardy. They would walk right into a trap, all for the sake of protecting their people. Dooming themselves for the opportunity to save one friend.

Taniks shifted the Titan’s weight on his shoulders. The oaf would make excellent bait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So some of you might've noticed what could be an error. Taniks knows that Royce's ghost is still alive because he's able to use void light. When doing research for this chapter I discovered that that's actually a hotly contested issue in the Destiny lore community: whether a Guardian can use their Light after their ghost has died or not. There's evidence for both sides, but most people lean towards yes, they can.
> 
> For the purposes of my canon I'm gonna say no. Just because I think it serves the drama of protecting your ghost more. And because why wouldn't have Cayde done more than just aim his pistol half-heartedly after Sundance died...
> 
> As always, thanks for reading! Let me know what you think.


	6. Chapter 6

Morgan was only a few blocks west from the intersection, past the crashed skiff and away from the thicker parts of the swamp. Fireteam Gamma made much better time on the way to the isolated ghost, partly out of urgency, partly out of an assumption that the Fallen were gone for now. Luckily, that proved to be true.

The ghost was hidden in an old department store, enclosed between some polyester garments that had survived the years of decay. Morgan was skittish, though Nadiya couldn’t decide if that was due to the circumstances or not.

“…and then he was just gone! No goodbye, no nothing! And what could I do, if I gave up on Yvette then and there, who knows what happens to her, who knows what happens to me…”

“Morgan.” Lee held a hand close to the ghost, trying to comfort the poor thing. “I need you to calm down. And explain everything slowly.” The exo’s optics narrowed. “No theatrics.”

Morgan seemed to spin around as she looked at the three Guardians and their ghosts all staring intently at her. “I’m sorry,” she finally said. Her white shell expanded and contracted in a visual sigh. “Royce is never like this. He never acts like this, so I guess… I guess I’m just worried about him.”

“Of course,” Brand said, “But please. We need to know our next course of action. You’re our only lead.”

“Okay.” Morgan seemed to relax, the fractured bits of her shell slowing their orbit around her core. “I guess, things all started when Jacobsen… died. I don’t know. Maybe we made ourselves too obvious. Got too ambitious with one of the Scar’s scavenging parties. But next thing we know, we’re surrounding by a pack of reavers and a high baron.”

Morgan tensed back up, her eye flittering around her audience nervously. “I’ve never seen a ghost die before. So obviously neither has Royce. But seeing Jacobsen’s ghost… shattered… It was terrifying.”

She shook her shell. “We barely made it out of the kill box alive. Scraped our way through dozens of Fallen. And on top of all that, we had no way to contact the City without exposing ourselves to the Fallen all over again. No way to recover Jacobsen’s body, or his ghost. The baron kept them.”

“As trophies, likely,” Brand interjected. “What better to show your valor in combat than a dead Guardian by your hand?”

The room fell silent. Brand seemed to put two and two together. “Perhaps that was better unspoken.”

“Yes,” Lee growled.

Morgan beeped uncomfortably before continuing. “We were supposed to be here on an observe and report for another week, then fly home. But the Scars were stirred into a frenzy once they knew we were here. They found our ships, destroyed them before we could even sneak our way back. They flew skiffs throughout the city streets more often, trying to provoke us into exposing ourselves.”

“Eventually, it was too much for Royce and Yvette. They started plotting how to take out this baron, Taniks. Yvette’s ghost and I tried talking them out of it, but it didn’t seem to work.”

“What was their plan?” Nadiya asked.

“They didn’t have one!” Morgan exclaimed. “I mean, they seemed so calm and calculated about the whole ordeal. Like killing this baron was part of the mission all along. But I know Royce. _I know him_.” She sighed once more. “He was burying his anger, but it was driving his actions.”

“Foolish,” Lee remarked. “We are supposed to be in control of our emotions. Surrendering to them, to compromise the mission at hand…” Nadiya could’ve sworn the other Hunter glanced in her direction. “It’s beyond stupid.”

“You don’t have to lecture me! I was pleading with him to just return back to the City early.” Morgan sounded more distraught than ever. “He and Yvette were set on this. When we were camped at the radio tower, I tried sending a signal out. Just in case the City had sent anyone to look for us after we stopped reporting back.” She looked at the floor. “I guess you all heard. But it was too late.”

“So what happened today?” Lee pressed. “How did you get separated?”

Morgan fidgeted a bit before continuing. “Yvette and Royce decided to try and make as much noise as possible. Draw out the baron so that we could face him head on. And at first, it seemed like it was working. They were cutting through swathes of Fallen. But dregs turned to vandals, vandals turned to captains, captains turned to reavers…

“Before we knew it we were getting pressed on all sides. And then the baron showed up. Watching us. Like it was a game to him. So Yvette and Royce tried pushing towards him, but there were just legions of Scars. Our Guardians ripped through them, even took out a skiff. But there was just too many of them.

“Yvette got killed. Royce was badly hurt. There was too much incoming fire for Yvette’s ghost to safely revive her, or for me to patch Royce up. So he threw up a Ward of Dawn.”

Morgan looked downtrodden once more. “And then he was just gone! I was so focused on making sure Yvette was revived and okay, that by the time I looked for Royce…”

The ghost made some glitchy wails, a mechanical stand-in for crying. Bluejay floated beside her, nuzzling the ghost with his shell. “It’s okay, Morgan. It’s not your fault.”

“I know,” she responded. “I know. I just wish I’d paid more attention.”

“Please, Morgan,” Lee interjected, “Finish your story.”

Morgan nodded uncertainly. “Well, when Royce was gone, Taniks was gone, too. With Royce not responding to our signals, Yvette took it upon herself to try to draw Taniks back out. So she left to go kill more Scars.

“I stayed behind. Just in case Royce was here, dead in the battle or something. I couldn’t believe that he’d have abandoned me like that. But with reaver snipers, I had to hide. Otherwise I’d be dead, and that’d pretty much leave Royce out to dry. So I’ve been hiding here.”

“And what of Yvette?” Brand asked.

“She spoke to me on our fireteam channel just before you all reached me. That she was heading to the ketch.”

“For what reason?”

“Yvette said she saw the last few skiffs of reavers fly back towards it after she tried drawing Taniks out again. With the Fallen retreating, she said that the baron must’ve been too. Otherwise he’d still be down here hunting us.”

Nadiya pursed her lips. “Then where do you think Royce is?”

Morgan fidgeted once more. “I can’t be certain. But I feel his Light coming from the ketch. I think he made it up there. Dead or alive.”

“If he’s not responding to your messages, then more likely the former,” Lee noted.

“I guess,” the ghost admitted.

The fireteam hung in tense silence for a few moments. It was a lot to consider.

Brand was the first to speak. “I don’t see how we have any choice but to follow Yvette to the Kaliks-Syn.”

“Why do you say that?” Nadiya asked.

The Warlock stepped away, looking back outside. The morning sky was enough to make the ketch plainly visible through the rain clouds once more. “Our mission is to rescue the remaining members of Fireteam Rattler. We know that Yvette is making her way to the ketch. That’s one certainty. As for Royce, he is either beating his way through the Fallen aboard that ship, or his lifeless body is being held hostage.”

He turned back to the group, scout rifle appearing once more in his hands. “Either way, our objectives lie aboard that ship. I see no reason for us to continue comparing notes while two Guardians face an army of Fallen above us. We’re their backup.”

Nadiya felt swayed by the argument, but turned to Lee for approval. The Arcstrider seemed lost in thought, before turning back to Morgan. “You think that your Titan is aboard that ketch?”

“I think so.”

Lee’s optics narrowed. “Morgan. I need you to be positive.”

The ghost shuddered, before her eye flared with a concentration of Light. Her shell closed once more, looking a bit tired. “I’m as certain as I can be. I’m sorry I can’t offer more than that.”

“Hm.” Lee walked back to the entrance of the store alongside Brand, staring up at the looming ketch. “I don’t like walking into a bastion of Scars. But I don’t think we have any better ideas here. Those two Guardians could be in dire straits, and the only available backup we have is protecting a dozen civilians.”

The fireteam leader turned back to Nadiya. “I need you to be ready for a firefight. More than you bargained for.”

Nadiya straightened her back as she approached. “I’m ready. I can do this.”

Lee seemed unconvinced. “This isn’t just any battle. We’re marching into the lion’s den. We won’t get through without dying.”

The Gunslinger steeled her face. “I understand. Let’s go.”

Lee held her gaze for an uncertain moment further, before turning back to Brand. Nadiya kept herself from sighing in relief. That had been a façade. She was still terrified.

But it was looking like she didn’t have a choice.

* * *

The Kaliks-Syn was now parked above the highest skyscraper in the city, just across the bridge of dead Scars. The enormous ketch was plainly visible now, even through the faint clouds that drifted between it and ground level. The morning sun did wonders for Old Chicago’s beauty.

The journey through the overgrown streets and across the swamp bridge was much quicker than Gamma’s initial travel towards downtown. With the Fallen seemingly evacuated from the streets, the Guardians were free to use their sparrows once more. In all likelihood, the Scars above knew they were coming. No point in being subtle about it.

Climbing the massive tower was proving to be more of a challenge, however. Over a hundred stories tall, with elevators that had been nonfunctional for centuries. A moment of silence had washed over the fireteam as their ghosts analyzed the floor plan of the building.

“So we have to take the stairs?” Nadiya asked, trying to keep her disdain hidden.

Lee simply led the way into the staircase, beginning the long, slow descent of identical concrete walls. Brand clapped the Gunslinger on the back as made to follow Lee. “Welcome to being a Guardian,” he joked. “Sometimes we try to have fun with things.”

That had been almost thirty minutes ago, now. Nadiya guessed that she was half a dozen flights back from the other two Guardians, though hopefully nearing the top of the building. Even here, in this indoor concrete spiral, Nadiya began to feel light-headed. Whatever enclosed atmosphere this building might’ve had before was lost, thanks to the occasional hole in the wall. And a low amount of surviving windows.

“Just another ten stories,” Bluejay assured her, floating alongside as the Gunslinger climbed. “The others ought to be waiting for you soon.”

“Got it,” Nadiya hissed, panting for a moment. A month and a half of walking hadn’t prepared her for the intensity of thousands of stairs. Whatever conditioning she’d gained in her short life was apparently useless here. Not to mention her legs felt like twigs at this point.

Bluejay made a nervous beep. “You know, I can’t really heal fatigue. But I can resurrect you good as new-”

“Bluejay!” Nadiya stopped to pant, holding onto the cold steel railing. “I get it. I’ll pick up the pace.”

Her ghost floated up a bit further. “I’m just saying. It might be worth it to just get this over with.” He sounded vaguely apologetic. “It’ll make things easier for all of us.”

Nadiya shook her head before continuing her ascent. “Thank you, Bluejay. But I’m not killing myself.”

“Well when you put it like that it sounds awfully morbid. It wouldn’t work like that for you.”

“I know how it works,” Nadiya said. “And I know it’s gonna happen, okay? Let’s just let it happen when it happens.”

A voice echoed from far above. “Gunslinger! How goes your climb?”

Nadiya sighed. “Fine, Brand! But you can use our ghost channels!” She gave a look to Bluejay, queuing him to open their fireteam radio. “Are you all almost at the top?”

“Just arrived,” Lee’s voice said through radio static. “Top of the skyscraper seems to have lost some of its integrity over the years. Watch your step once you get here.”

“Okay,” Nadiya replied. “I’ll only be a couple minutes.”

The Gunslinger and her ghost made better time now, urged on by the obligation to not keep the others waiting. Nadiya grit her teeth as her legs seemed to burn. How she longed for the comforting fire of her Light… But that would only waste even more of her energy.

“I’m sorry for being a little too hands-on,” Bluejay said. “I know you’re capable of all this. It’s just, I don’t get to do any of this hard labor, and I certainly don’t have as much control in a fight as you… I just worry.”

“Seems like that’s what you ghosts tend to do,” Nadiya mused. Morgan was ahead with the other Guardians, desperate to be the first to spot a sign of her Titan. Perhaps it was just because Royce was missing, but the poor thing was unbearable to Nadiya. No doubt the stakes were high, but it was if Morgan’s world was ending.

Nadiya bit her lip. Of course, she supposed it kind of could be. If she was dead, or missing, and Bluejay were stranded somewhere without her, could she blame him for being hysterical? Wouldn’t she be the same way?

“Sorry,” she told her ghost. “I don’t want to make fun of you. Or push you away. You should be worried, I guess. But I don’t need you insisting on things. Not unless I’m being an ass.”

“You’re not, um, being an ass,” Bluejay replied cautiously. “I get being scared of death. It’s a scary concept. I just hope you realize sooner or later there’s nothing to be afraid of.” He glitched, an artificial chuckle. “At least, not until I die.”

“You say that like it’s a certainty.”

The ghost stayed silent for a moment. “ _Unless_ I die.”

It grew uncomfortably quiet in the wake of that statement. Nadiya understood what he meant. She hadn’t considered that they wouldn’t make it out of Old Chicago. It had seemed like a given that they’d make it back to the Last City. How unfair would it be for them to never see it together?

But reality had set in once more. How quickly and easily had she ended a fellow Risen’s life, only weeks before? And here she was, walking right into the belly of the beast. This high baron, Taniks, he could likely kill Bluejay as easily as she could kill a dreg. Even now, with so little experience, dregs were barely a threat. Could it be that simple for Bluejay?

Nadiya took a deep breath, less for her tired lungs than for her soul. There was no point obsessively worrying about this. She had a fireteam of Guardians at her side. What more could she do than show the Fallen what Hunters were capable of?

Brand and Lee were waiting impatiently at the top of the stairs, though they tried not to show it. Lee’d been right about the integrity of the spire; parts of the roof seemed to have wasted away, the ancient metal frame barely holding together. Enough wind penetrated the walls to blow the two Hunter’s cloaks horizontally, though the Guardians’ feet remained planted.

“Now what?” Nadiya breathed. What little adrenaline she’d had left seemed to fade away, leaving her legs and lungs on fire. Brand’s helmet of stars seemed to stare at her in concern.

“We advance,” the Warlock replied. “The ketch is parked on the other end of this floor, with its cargo bay open. Likely the entrance for any straggling Scars that weren’t picked up by skiffs.”

“Or much more likely, a trap.” Lee sounded understandably bitter. “And we’re just walking into it, like moths to a fire.”

“I’m not comfortable being the optimist,” Brand countered. “Though while I find it hard to disagree, I don’t see how we have a choice.”

“I’m sorry, but my Guardian is still aboard that ship!” Morgan pleaded. “We didn’t climb up here for nothing!”

“I can’t recall you putting any of that work in,” Nadiya said, scowling.

“Everyone, please!” Bluejay exclaimed. He floated into the middle of the fireteam, gently drifting in the direction of the wind. “We all agree that we need to board that ketch. And we all agree that it’s an awful idea. So let’s stop bickering and get to it.”

A series of nods followed, before Brand made a noise of disapproval. “In the event that this goes poorly, we ought to radio back to update our status. A precaution Fireteam Rattler did not take.”

“Fine,” Bluejay said. He made a chirpy sound, his shell expanding as if puffing out his chest. “Though I doubt you thought of the fact that our satellites still aren’t in position. We won’t be able to reach the City without a stronger signal emitter.”

“Of course I thought of that, little light.” Brand nodded to Dismas, before continuing. “Arno, this is Brand-13, reporting from Fireteam Gamma. Do you receive?”

The Guardians waited with baited breath, only to hear silence on the other end.

“This is Brand-13. Do you receive?”

…

“Arno, this is Lee-4. We’re moving to assault the Kaliks-Syn in pursuit of the two remaining Guardians of Fireteam Rattler. If you are receiving this broadcast but are unable to send a reply, please be advised. We do not need backup at present time.”

Nadiya scoffed. “We could certainly use backup.”

Lee shot her a look of disapproval. “We do not need _your_ backup at present time. Keep the civilians safe. Hopefully we’ll be back soon. Over and out.” The Hunter pulled out her ghost. “Monitor all City-used wavelengths in our local area. Tell me as soon as Arno replies.”

Her silent ghost vanished once more, leaving Lee to bring her sniper rifle back out. “Arno’s beyond a talented Titan. If he’s dealing with something, he can handle out.”

She turned back forward. “Now, let’s proceed as planned.”

Lee had taken no more than a few steps in the direction of the ketch when an explosion burst from its direction. It didn’t shatter eardrums, nor flare the morning sky with fire. No. This was different…

For Nadiya, it was all too familiar.

The wave of expired Light washed over the Guardians, the initial rush of the Traveler’s expended energy fading as they realized what it meant. Yvette’s ghost…

Nadiya could feel a lump in her throat. The fireteam was silent as the shock wore off, a quiet mourning taking place. Nadiya thought back to how sick she’d felt after killing Bruce. How she’d felt like she’d robbed the world of something special. Not just taking a life, but taking one that had been given a second chance. No matter how right she might have felt in the moment, she’d still stolen something from the world.

And it clicked. She understood why Yvette and Royce had marched towards the Scars, guns blazing. She understood why revenge seemed so appealing, even though she knew nothing of the lives wasted by this baron.

“Come on,” she announced, breaking the silence. “She might still be alive.”

The stunned silence of the two veteran Guardians didn’t falter as Nadiya strode past them towards the ketch’s entrance. She understood that primal desire for revenge, though she didn’t feel it. She felt something akin to Morgan’s fearful hope, something like Bruce’s refugees' weathered but still worthy dreams of a better life.

She was a Guardian. There were lives to save. No bones about it.

And if she stayed in the front for a few moments, the others wouldn’t see her choke back tears.


	7. Chapter 7

Up here the wind stung Nadiya’s face, useful cover for the few tears she couldn’t hold back. “Bluejay, my helmet please.” She could barely croak out the words, her fake gusto washing away as her ghost obliged.

At least now the wind was less bothersome. What must’ve been a gorgeous view of the ruined city below was obscured by clouds, though it felt more like fog here in the thick of it. Nadiya walked close to the edge of a blown out window, peeking down. The ground was obscured, and it was no doubt far enough away to make her queasy.

“You okay, Nadiya?” Bluejay asked. He appeared in front of her, shell drooping down in kind curiosity.

She waved him off. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” Which obviously wasn’t true, but what was the point in admitting it? They had work to do.

The ketch’s entrance was just across a small gap from the skyscraper’s ruined peak. It was a ramp into the ship’s cargo bay, presumably meant for loading the ketch from the ground. Being parked up here was no routine docking, however. It was all too clear to the Guardians that this was an invitation.

Nadiya turned around wordlessly to the two veterans, who stood closely behind her. Lee’s eyes were trained on the ship, as if she were skeptical of the entirely obvious trap. Brand was, as usual, impossible to read.

But the silence between the three of them provided an uncomfortable truth. They were nervous. Taniks had already killed two ghosts. By boarding the ketch, each Guardian was risking the same fate for their own companions.

Of course, they had an extra ghost to worry about. Morgan zipped out from behind Lee’s back into the middle of the trio, shell spinning around frantically. “Well? What are you all waiting for? My Guardian is still aboard that thing!”

Lee nodded, patting the poor soul before taking a running leap onto the ketch’s ramp. She was still fireteam leader, no matter how discouraged the team was. She had to set the example, just like how Nadiya had when she’d felt brazen all of a sudden a few seconds earlier.

The Gunslinger considered that as she readied herself for her jump. Something she hadn’t considered when joining up with these Guardians was that ebb and flow of teamwork. Where she’d constantly felt alone when guiding the refugees to Chicago, here she felt somewhat cared for. Even if Brand and Lee were a little rough around the edges.

But that was something. A shoulder to lean on. A Guardian to pick you up when you’re down, to understand your fear of dying and help you out.

Though Nadiya figured that last bit couldn’t continue that much longer.

She swallowed her nerves and leapt towards the ketch, cloak billowing out behind her in the strong wind. The ten foot gap was easily cleared with a quick double jump. This time, Nadiya decided not to glance at the thousand foot drop below. There were more than enough potential ways to die on the path ahead.

All three Guardians’ ghosts vanished while Morgan hovered alongside the fireteam, more anxious than the three of them combined. They ventured forward, the open-air cargo bay leading into a large room within the ketch.

Nadiya had spent her whole second life surrounded by the ruins of humanity. Things had always felt somewhat familiar, despite various signs of anciency. Inside this ketch, though, was the first time her senses seemed to fail her. This place was distinctly alien.

The architecture was all curved and bulbous, not dissimilar to the exteriors of the many skiffs Nadiya’d seen. Nets hung from the ceiling, holding strange orbs. Containers of some kind, perhaps supply caches? Not to mention the giant draping orange banners, emblazoned with the House of Scar’s red sigil.

In the center of the cargo bay was a dormant machine. It had the shape of a beetle, six legs protruding from a comparatively titanic body. Though the mounted guns on the tank definitely differentiated it from a common insect.

Nadiya kept her sights trained on the tank apprehensively as the Guardians filed around her. All three kept their sights trained on the various catwalks. The bay seemed deserted. Though that seemed too good to be true.

Her suspicions were confirmed by a loud screeching of metal behind them. The twenty foot tall entrance to the cargo bay sealed itself slowly, beams of daylight slowly closed away. Soon enough, the room was only lit by dim orange lights, slowly pulsing to the beat of Nadiya’s heart.

The uncomfortable silence between the fireteam spoke volumes. They’d walked right into a trap, obviously. Nadiya swallowed her fears, quite literally, as she continued to scan the room for movement. They hadn’t had a choice. They had to advance in here. If not, they’d-

“10 o’clock!” Lee yelled. She popped a few shots with her hand cannon, the claps of its hammer followed by pained shrieks from its targets. Nadiya swung her scout in that direction, watching a dozen vandals flow into the room from a catwalk entrance.

The two Hunters focused on thinning those ranks, their bullets finding Fallen targets with ease. Wisps of arc energy were sent wide of the Guardians, shock pistols entirely off target as the Fallen scattered. A few wire rifle shots missed their targets too, one coming close enough to Nadiya’s head to make her hair stand up within her helmet.

Brand seemed focused on another entrance, his arms glowing purple as he called the void to him. An angry roar bellowed out from a sliding door, as a large captain and their legions of Scars sprinted into the room. Brand had seemed to notice them before they’d arrived, however, which spelled their doom.

The Warlock leapt into the air, arms fully encased in void Light. He teleported higher into the air, gaining a better angle on the few dozen Scars now rushing into the room, before letting loose his power.

In came in the form of a giant ball of energy, a dark purple orb of void that floated towards the mob of Fallen ominously. Nadiya stopped her volley of fire to reload, taking the moment to watch the ball encroach on the scattering Fallen.

As Brand graciously fell to the metal ground, the void exploded, taking the Fallen in its vicinity with it. They seemed to evaporate with the explosion, their bodies becoming purple silhouettes before disintegrating. The void encasing them unraveled like ribbons, before nothing was left of the Fallen but wisps of energy.

Nadiya watched in awe as smaller balls of void sought out further targets. The primary explosion must’ve eliminated a dozen Fallen, including the loud captain who’d stupidly announced itself. But four balls of void eerily crept towards fleeing vandals and dregs, pulling them apart on contact.

The art of its destruction seemed lost on Lee, who never stopped her barrage of bullets. Brand caught Nadiya staring aloofly at him. The stars on his helmet seemed to gleam brighter than ever. “The Nova Bomb, the ultimate display of power of Voidwalkers like me.”

It made sense, Nadiya realized. The equivalent of her golden gun. Though the Warlock’s power seemed so much more alien than her own. Manifesting the gun felt strangely familiar, a weapon not unlike those that humanity had already sculpted before the Light came along. A precision tool that felt instinctual to her.

That Nova Bomb gave her the jitters. The explosion had sent a deep wave of bass through the room, the kind of power that made your chest tighten in its presence. And seeing the Fallen disintegrate like that left her confused. How did that work? Her solar Light burned things away. This didn’t seem too different practically speaking. But what in the hell was the void…

Something frightening if it could do all that. The second legion of Fallen had scattered after Brand’s super, spreading throughout the room. They found cover behind consoles, disheveled cases of supplies, and of course the spider tank in the center. And yet, that hadn’t seemed to kill morale in the long run. Not one even more Fallen spilled into the room.

“They’re trying to overwhelm us!” Bluejay yelped from inside Nadiya’s head. “Get to cover!”

The Gunslinger did as she was told, vaulting over a control console after expending another mag of ammo. She looked at the screen’s incomprehensible language for a moment, before it shattered to pieces from a shrapnel launcher. Glass rained down atop her, which made her flinch, only to realize the shards were inconsequential against her armor.

Finally, something the cheap threads could actually withstand! Nadiya poked her head above cover, watching the Fallen spill around the room. There must have been a hundred of them. Tiny floating robots spilled in as well, their rectangular bodies looking much more scraped together than the few servitors that accompanied the legions of Scars.

“Shank snipers!” Lee yelled, her voice tinged with angered annoyance. “Heavily armored, too.”

“What do we do?” Nadiya replied. She fired a few shots at one of the shanks, her scout’s bullets seemingly useless against its metal plating. She grit her teeth before focusing on a couple dregs that had gotten overambitious, popping their heads with easy precision.

“They’re pressing up from all around,” Brand said. He sounded untroubled by their current troubles. “We need to carve a new path through their ranks. Create a flank for us to crash against.”

“You’re thinking like a Titan!” Morgan chirped, hovering next to Lee behind cover.

Brand scoffed. “The brain is a muscle. Yet Titans seem to think with their fists. This is a strategy, not swinging wildly at your opponent.”

“Okay!” Nadiya exclaimed. The Warlock seemed a little self-absorbed, even now. “Which side?”

“Left!” Lee announced, reloading her hand cannon. “Nadiya, cover me!”

Lee leapt up in the air, double jumping to get an angle on some approaching vandals. Half the Fallen in the cargo bay immediately directed their fire towards the exposed Hunter, but to no avail.

Her hand cannon disappeared from sight, her right hand grasping a staff of arc light in its place. She spun it around her head, the whirring of its energy charging the whole room with electricity. The spin kept her elevated for a moment, before she crashed down atop three vandals, erasing them from existence.

“Now, Gunslinger!” Lee called. She dipped, dodged, ducked through Fallen gunfire, whacking away at their fodder with ease. Though as she cleared a path, she made herself an easy target.

Nadiya took a deep breath and stood from her crouched cover. She shot her fist into the air, rifle evaporating away thanks to Bluejay taking the cue. In its place was the flaming cannon, enveloping her in fire with a satisfying chime.

She dodged from out of cover, holding the cannon at her side as she instinctively fanned the hammer. Shot after shot found their mark, beams of fire connecting with exposed Fallen. The solar Light burned them alive, their bodies disintegrating into ash soon before they could begin suffering.

Each shot connected willed the Light in her palm, another round of fire chambered into the golden gun. Her Light seemed to feed off her kills, the released soul of another dead dreg sending a shot of adrenaline through her. It willed her Light more and more, gave her more shots, more opportunities to clear snipers, more opportunities to take pressure off Lee, more-

An explosion of arc erupted at Nadiya’s feet, shocking her to the core. The blast flung her off balance, falling to the ground helplessly. The solar Light drained from her instantly, leaving her suddenly cold and exhausted.

“Shit!” she sputtered, crawling behind a piece of cover to her left. She’d overextended herself. Her face poured with sweat beneath her helmet, and her shooting arm felt lifeless. Numb, almost. Not good.

“Fix yourself, Hunter!” Brand commanded, walking past her as he popped shots at the Fallen across the room. “Our Arcstrider friend has cleared us a path!”

Nadiya exhaled in response, slumping against the cold metal obstruction. Bluejay appeared in front of her, shell expanding from his core. “Hang in there, Nadiya! Just need a quick jolt of life!”

She gulped back bile, her mouth uncomfortably dry besides that. “Thanks, buddy,” she whispered.

The space between Bluejay’s shell and core radiated Light, pulsing strangely as it healed her. Nadiya felt the life return to her. She wiggled her fingers, arm still tingling but useful once more. She took a deeper breath, shaking her head. “Sorry,” she said to no one in particular.

“Don’t be,” Bluejay replied. His voice was oddly comforting, overpowering the din of battle throughout the hangar. “That was the longest you’ve used the Light.”

“Too long,” she breathed in reply.

“Maybe.” Bluejay clicked his shell back in position, rotating excitedly. “Probably. But that was still awesome. You’re starting to really attune to your gift. I think you’re naturally following the way of the outlaw.”

“Okay,” Nadiya said. The words meant nothing to her, but she figured now wasn’t the time to reply. She gestured with her arm, summoning her scout rifle once again with Bluejay’s help. “I’ll make sure not to push that hard again.”

“Probably a good idea,” her ghost said. Though she suspected the little guy would be excited if she kept testing her limits. He was a bad liar.

However, Bluejay’s excited eye suddenly drooped. “Guardian down!” he alerted her, mood clearly soured.

“What?” Nadiya asked.

“Lee!” Brand said, the closest he’d come to shredding his pensiveness for yelling. His voice came through ghost comms due to how loud the room was. “Took too much fire! We’ve got to move up.”

Bluejay vanished with a quick spin, leading Nadiya to get back to her feet behind cover. The Fallen ranks had certainly thinned thanks to her and Lee’s work, leaving a path on the left side of the bay that stretched all the way to the back wall. Brand was at the end of it, firing at the Scars on the right from behind cover.

“Nadiya! Move up!” Now he was definitely yelling.

Nadiya sprinted from cover to cover, taking the time to summon and toss an incendiary grenade in the direction of a cluster of dregs. She slid to cover next to Brand, whose scout was firing extremely fast. She wondered how he was able to pull the trigger that quickly.

To his left, behind another piece of cover, was Lee’s dead body. At least, Nadiya figured it was dead. Without blood or ether, it was a bit hard to understand. The lights of her eyes were out, leaving her mechanical face looking like a worn-out mask.

“I’ve built up my Light once more, so I can keep suppressing the Fallen with Tlaloc here!” Nadiya struggled to understand what Brand meant by that. “I need you to scramble over and revive Lee!”

Those orders made little sense, too. “Revive?” she queried helplessly. A heavy blast of shrapnel ricocheted just above her head, sending sparks down around her. She flinched in hesitation. Nadiya’s adrenaline was fading away, leaving her as nervous as ever.

“Your ghost can explain!” Brand said. He hazarded a glance while ducking down to reload. “With pace!”

“On it,” Nadiya said, running as fast as she could while staying crouched. Traces of arc energy zipped past her as she wove between cover, sliding behind the supply cache just past Lee’s dead body.

The Arcstrider was sprawled out on the ground, her armor singed with holes. Her matte gray cloak was torn in many spots, trampled by her collapsed torso. Her ghost, Les, popped into existence above her, before quickly zooming behind cover next to Nadiya and Bluejay.

“First time for everything,” Bluejay said. He swiveled towards the other ghost, who remained quiet. Seemed Les wasn’t a talker. “Don’t worry, rezzing a Guardian’s easy.”

“What do I do?” Nadiya asked. “I thought that was your guys’ job.”

“Normally, yes,” Bluejay replied. “We’re a conduit for your Light, but when we’re in a place steeped in Darkness – literal Darkness, not shade or something – or you’ve just used a ton of your stored Light, we need some extra charge to do something important. Like resurrections.”

Bluejay spoke hurriedly, his shell twitching around with anxiety as he rambled on. “And Lee was shot out of her super. Wielding an arc staff that long takes tremendous effort. So we’re gonna give her a little boost. Les?”

The other ghost spun in affirmation, before opening his shell as close to he could to his Guardian without exiting cover. Bluejay hovered close to him, connecting with a tendril of raw Light. He spun his eye back towards Nadiya. “I need you to reach out towards me. Focus on bringing her back.”

Nadiya followed his instructions. She felt Bluejay’s Light connect to her gloved hand, a strange tingling sensation. The warmth that she felt inside when he healed her seemed concentrated in her fingertips. Her heart beat slower. Her mind slipped as she thought of Lee. Stared at her body. Wondered if this was working…

The beams of Light connecting the two Guardians and their ghosts flared for an instant, before Lee’s body burst with Light. Tiny specks of Light leapt off her, as if she’d just been shook clean of dust. Her eyes glowed green once more, her metal cheeks flush with life.

Lee rolled for cover as soon as she seemed conscious once more, Les disappearing once more. She pulled her hand cannon back out before giving a slight nod to Nadiya. “Thank you.”

Nadiya returned the nod, and prepared to continue her volley of fire when the entire ketch suddenly seemed to jolt. Nadiya steadied herself, dangerously close to falling aside and out of cover.

A loud, disembodied voice filled the entire cargo bay. It spoke a raspy tongue, as if choking the words out, or speaking through a violent cough. The Fallen responded with a symphony of roars and howls, and they stopped returning fire.

Nadiya peeked out from behind cover once more. The remaining Scars in the hangar were hustling out of the many exits, vandals scrambling on all fours, dregs sprinting somewhat off balance. None seemed interested in the Guardians anymore.

“What the hell happened?” she asked, standing up. She lowered the Armillary, the room seemingly clear of threats once again. “Seemed like they still had us pinned down.”

“Regretfully, I do not speak Errata. The Eliksni language,” Brand said, standing beside her. “Although the Kaliks-Syn has begun moving.”

Nadiya realized he was correct. Though the initial momentum of the ketch’s sudden jump was obviously gone, she could feel the inertia of movement. Similar to the weightless feeling she’d had upon her sparrow.

Lee was the last to stand, eyes still flitting about the room, looking for any Fallen lagging behind. “Where?”

“North by northwest,” Bluejay said as he reappeared, though remaining behind cover. Could never be too careful. “But more importantly, away from Chicago.”

“Away from Arno,” Nadiya said. And the refugees. Though that seemed pointedly obvious. And bad.

“Any idea where specifically?” Lee queried.

Bluejay could only shake his shell. “Unfortunately not. City data on House of Scar operation centers is extremely limited. That’s what Fireteam Rattler was supposed to solve.”

The silence from the other ghosts confirmed his lack of conjecture. Lee hummed annoyedly.

“Still no word from Arno?”

Again, silence from the ghosts.

“Then we keep going deeper into the ketch. This thing could start moving at warp speed at any time. Gotta find Royce’s body before that happens.” Lee vaulted over her cover, making her way towards the largest door on the back wall, presumably leading further into the Kaliks-Syn.

She suddenly stopped in her tracks, though. “Wait. Where’s Morgan?”

A cold rush of nerves washed down Nadiya’s spine before the lonesome ghost quickly chirped a reply from the sealed entrance to the cargo bay. “Here!” Her voice was muffled by the distance, but there was no mistaking the little drone as she popped out from cover. “Sorry! Didn’t want the Fallen to pounce on me.”

The Guardians waited as she bobbed and wove her way around abandoned machinery and Fallen corpses. She halted near the closed door that Lee had started towards. “Royce is this way. I can still feel his Light signature, however faint it is.”

“So you can lead us right to him?” Nadiya asked. She and Brand joined Lee behind Morgan, waiting for the exo’s lead.

“Yes. Although I’d prefer not to _literally_ lead. I believe I’m the most vulnerable to another ambush.”

“Perceptive, little light,” Brand muttered. He gestured towards the door. “Mind opening the path for us?”

Morgan seemed to scoff. “Sure.” She spun around, beams of data working on the control panel. “Opening doors is half of what we’re good for, anyways,” she muttered.

The Guardians waited patiently for the satisfying beep of a ghost’s job well done. The red light at the center of the doorway flashed blue, and the threshold was open. Morgan hung back as the fireteam marched through, sending a pulse of energy that ricocheted off every surface of the hallway.

“This path leads directly towards the Kaliks-Syn’s bridge,” she noted, hovering closely behind Lee as the Hunter walked. “Through a few more operational rooms, with plenty of detours on the side. But it’s a straight shot from here.”

“Good,” Lee said. “Check your corners. Let’s get there as soon as possible.”

Thus, the fireteam continued through the ketch. Their pace was slow enough to exercise caution, quick enough to hope they’d reach Royce in a timely manner.

That’d normally be a hard balance to strike, except the ketch practically seemed deserted. The first large room their path led through held some kind of fusion reactor. The walls glowed orange as one of the ship’s main power sources chugged away, leaving the room uncomfortably loud and warm. Made sense that there weren’t any Scars camped out there.

The next, however, was some sort of armory. Though the shelves were swept clear of weaponry. No guards posted in here, either.

“I’ve don’t like this,” Nadiya whispered as they strode through. She noticed what looked like a security camera hanging from one of the ceiling’s curved corners, snuffing its vision with one quick shot from her scout. “I wish we knew what that transmission had said.”

Bluejay made a disappointed beep in her head. “City linguists are still in the process of translating Errata,” he explained. “Someday that’ll be another application for ghosts during fieldwork.”

“Is that more helpful than opening doors?” Morgan said in jest.

Bluejay seemed not to take it in stride, appearing behind Nadiya to stare rudely at the other ghost. “That’s _not_ all we’re good for.”

“Quiet!” Lee ordered. “You can debate the merits of your existence later. Focus on scanning the way ahead.”

Bluejay made an aggravated beep but followed her instruction. Hallway after hallway seemed to same, though. Somewhat dark, eerily quiet except the tinny sounds of their feet against the floor. Nadiya couldn’t help but feel like they were being funneled into a trap.

All her conjecture faded away, though, at the site of a human body.

Morgan was momentarily excited, zooming towards the corpse strewn against a pile of supply caches. That excitement faded almost instantly, though. This was Yvette’s body, not Royce’s.

“There’s no traces of Light here,” she noted, scanning the corpse. The normally skittish ghost sounded soft and reflective, now. “She lost her Light well before she reached this spot.”

“She fought on without her ghost,” Nadiya said, more explaining for herself. She was still grasping how all of this worked. The lack of snide corrections from Brand or Lee confirmed her guess. “How do we know where her ghost died?”

“Light signatures. I believe we passed that point, however. Dismas says we’re moving away from any leftover arc Light,” Brand replied. He’d barely turned to see the body, but his voice seemed softer than usual. It couldn’t be encouraging to find a dead Guardian, no matter how detached he seemed at times.

The Warlock started forward once more, though he flexed his shoulders uncomfortably. A sign of weakness? “The void is giving me nothing. I believe Royce has been dead for quite some time.”

“We’re close to the bridge. But whatever trap we’re walking into, you’re all gonna have to spring him free,” Morgan said, still hovering over Yvette’s body. She began scanning it with heavier beams of energy. “Give me a shot at reviving him, and you’ll have an extra Guardian at your side.”

“We’ll need all the help we can get,” Lee said, striding towards Brand, deeper into the ketch. The two veteran Guardians seemed ready for war.

Nadiya, however, knelt down beside Morgan as she worked over Yvette’s body. The Bladedancer’s armor was in tatters, cut in numerous places from knives and shrapnel. Fallen handiwork.

She felt shivers down her spine. To die like that must’ve been painful. Yet the other Guardians seemed ready to march ahead like it couldn’t happen to them. Maybe they were more used to this than her. Maybe they’d grieved in just a few moments when they’d felt the ghost’s death atop the skyscraper.

Maybe she was getting in her own head. Nadiya shook said cranium, biting her lip. Of course they’d grieve. Just how she’d grieved the people in Bruce’s camp. But not during the fighting. Now wasn’t the time. It was time for hunting.

She turned to Morgan, whose scan of the body had begun transmatting it away. “What will happen to her?”

Morgan completed her work before reaching Nadiya’s eye level. The ghost seemed downtrodden, its eye relatively dim. Or maybe it was losing Light? Did that happen without your Guardian?

“She’ll be buried in the City. When we get back,” Morgan said. “The same can’t be said for Jacobsen, though. His body’d been scanned by Yvette’s ghost. So he’s just… gone.”

The ghost seemed to make sounds equivalating crying. Nadiya patted it softly. She didn’t know how to comfort things. “There, there.”

That didn’t seem to do much. Nadiya stopped, steeling herself. What was the point. “C’mon. We can still get you your Guardian back.”

Morgan made a low, electronic sniffle, but bobbed her shell yes. They made their way towards the other Guardians, beelining towards the bridge of the Kaliks-Syn. The stairs of the ketch’s main hallways slowly led up, but Nadiya couldn’t help but feel this was a descent towards something terrible.

Nonsense. She was in control here. How many Fallen had the three of them already thrashed in that cargo bay? They had this.

Nervous sparks of fire drifted away from her loose fingertips. Her muscles felt tense, her throat dry. The ketch seemed to sway under her feet.

_She was in control._

How honest was that voice inside her head?


	8. Chapter 8

“Well. This is it.”

Morgan sped ahead of the Guardians, releasing a wave of energy that scanned their surroundings. “The ketch’s bridge is just beyond this door.”

She didn’t sound all too excited. Even with the prospect of getting her Guardian back. Nadiya shifted her scout rifle’s grip. It was still just too quiet, as if the Fallen were watching them. There were no vents in this hallway, no security cameras…

Just two Scar banners, draped on either side of the door. For some reason, Nadiya had expected things to get a little nicer towards the bridge. Wouldn’t someone ruling all these Fallen have a taste for some luxury, some sign of superiority? It’s what she’d imagined from pirates.

Instead, there was just this sealed door. The lock remained glowing red, as utilitarian as everything else aboard this ship. How much nicer was this than the ruins below?

“Well, what’s the plan?” Morgan asked. She spun around impatiently. “You’re all the Guardians. I can’t march in there myself.”

“I’m thinking,” Brand said. The Warlock had gotten on his knees, resting the Tlaloc to the side, pressing his hands against his thighs. He bowed his head, closing off the outside world.

“I don’t know what the hell he’s doing,” Nadiya told the anxious ghost. “But I don’t know what to do. Just bust in there and raise hell? What do Guardians normally do?”

“I should hope that you’d have grown not to insult my intelligence again, new light,” Brand muttered, though his voice seemed to carry. “You and Lee are Hunters. You have been given the chance to hunt. So, do as you were made to do.”

“What the hell is with this guy,” Nadiya mumbled. If the Warlock heard, he did not seem bothered.

The other Hunter seemed uncharacteristically nonplussed, however. Lee ran a gloved hand against the shut door, closing her green optics. She turned back to Nadiya with a blank stare. “To answer your question… I don’t know.”

“Nothing is _with_ me,” Brand said.

“Quiet, Warlock! Focus on yourself,” Lee snapped back. She pulled back her sky blue cloak and ran a hand across her face. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do. But we can’t just… _charge in there_.”

Nadiya bit her lip. “Okay. Well I know I’m not supposed to give orders. But why not? We have super powers.”

“We have lives,” Lee said. “And two Guardians have already lost them to this bastard. Basically two and a half, since we don’t have the third’s body.”

Morgan made a distressed beep, but neglected to comment.

“We’re still fragile, Nadiya. You’re new to all this.” Lee placed her hands on her hips, thinking. “We’re not all Saint-14, or Tallulah.”

The names meant nothing to Nadiya. “We’ve made it through how many Fallen so far?”

Lee shook her head. “How much of that was luck? Do you not remember how easily you were taken down by one reaver? Where do you think they all retreated to? Who do you think commands them?”

“The void hungers,” Brand said, in his own world. Though the Hunters paid him no mind.

Lee unsheathed her knife, one that rivaled Nadiya’s atom-sharp one. “We’re made to _defend_ people. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but humans aren’t exactly the apex predators in this solar system anymore. And that goes for us, too.”

“The void hungers. It is insatiable.”

Morgan zipped over. “Guys? Maybe quiet down?”

Lee still refused to take note. “Every engagement we have with the Fallen, or the Hive, even the Vex, it rests on a fine line. Like the edge of this blade. And it can fall in either direction. We win, or lose. That’s fine. That’s war. But you can’t roll those dice too often when the chips are _lives_. So no. We can’t just march in there. We have to be more careful.”

Nadiya crossed her arms. “I don’t understand why you’re angry with me. I’m just asking.”

“Because they’re stupid questions!” Lee retorted. “They’re things a Guardian should just understand. Not to walk in and ‘raise hell.’ You’re entirely okay with suggesting we gamble our lives for Royce’s, but at the same time shrink away whenever you have the chance of losing yours momentarily!”

“I was just spit-balling. I don’t know what I’m talking about, that’s why I asked.” Nadiya stepped towards the Arcstrider, now angry herself. “And you specifically stuck your neck out to keep me from dying! Now that’s a problem?”

“It was a problem then! I was just trying to be nice!”

“The void hungers. It is insatiable. It calls to me.”

“So much for being personable. I killed a Warlord two days into life, but at least he knew how to hold a conversation!”

“Guardians, calm down,” Bluejay said within Nadiya’s head. “Why are you-”

“I’m sorry I don’t manage rookie Guardians well. I’m so sorry.” Lee easily drowned out the ghost’s concern. “But you shouldn’t be here. You weren’t supposed to happen. I was already stuck on this search and rescue with a loon and a Titan who’s lost his grit. I didn’t need you to show up and make this harder.”

“Well I’m sorry for existing. Sorry I’ve been trying to get some innocent people back to some paradise. Sorry I took the time out to try and help some Guardians I’ve never heard of. I’m such an asshole.”

“The void hungers! It is insatiable! It calls to me!”

“Sure, keep preaching that you’re some messiah for being just another Guardian. That’s all we do. Act like you’ve been there before.”

“I haven’t! So stop expecting me to!”

“Guardians!” This voice was Dismas’s, who’d popped into existence behind his Warlock. “Stand back.”

_“It calls to me!”_

Brand’s body seemed to jerk out of position as he was encased in purple light. A Nova Bomb impossibly larger than the one he’d used early grew above him. It filled the room with its aura, tugging at the Scar banners, ripping at Nadiya and Lee’s capes. The Warlock screamed.

The last thing Nadiya felt was the immense pressure in her chest as the orb exploded.

* * *

Everything was gone. Everything. The light, the Light. Capital L Light, that is. The power Nadiya could normally feel coursing in her veins, as if it were part of her, no less natural than blood. That was gone, too.

Here was nothing. Not quite black, but just nothing. There was no difference between light and shadow, not enough to draw a distinction. No more low rumble of the ketch’s engine, or a soft breeze behind her ears.

In fact, where were her ears? Nadiya tried moving her body, but it was so off. She could somehow sense that her arm moved forward, but there was no physical indication. She tried touching hands, but the sensations just passed through each other. There was no corporeal form.

Nadiya closed her eyes, though there was no actual difference. It was as if she were imagining closing her eyes, as if she could see what it’d be like but couldn’t actually produce it tangibly. That seemed the best way to get her absent head around it.

This must have been death. The absence of form. Just the soul, or the mind, or trillions of neurons barely hanging onto each other by a thread. Whatever this was, she couldn’t quite understand it.

Though it wasn’t _that_ bad.

Nadiya walked (as much as she could ‘walk’) forward, trying to sense any patterns. If this _was_ death, it certainly hadn’t been how Brand had described it. There were no intense visions, nothing that made her think she was dreaming. Or anything akin to that.

But she was definitely conscious of something. The Warlock had said human Guardians simply lost consciousness, coming to after resurrection as if they’d never left. This… wasn’t that.

What was it, though? Nadiya tried looking at her hand, searching for the blue skin that marked her as Awoken. Not human. Something else, something entirely different. Something that could tap into this nothingness, experience it.

After a while of walking (but not really walking), Nadiya began hearing something. It was the sound of nothing. A dull roar in the distance, as if nothing could be loud. As if nothing could be threatening.

Nothing _was_ threatening. Not nothing as in the absence of things, but nothing as in this very specific absence of things, a nothing that seemed to have a mind of its own beyond what Nadiya could understand. The absence of sound grew deafening until Nadiya tried to run (but not really run) away.

Though she couldn’t run (but not really run) away because the sound grew from everywhere and everywhere was nothing but not really nothing (?) because it was suffocating

And she could feel herself suffocating even though she had no lungs for she was nothing within this greater nothing but the phantom pain in her chest grew and grew until it seemed to consume her and

she collapsed on the ground but there was no ground and she felt no impact but it felt like a break from the running (but not really running) that allowed her to

catch her breath though she wasn’t really breathing

and each breath hurt in her chest

which wasn’t there

it was nothing

but she could see something

something coming from the nothing

something that looked like

light

or Light

Light?

* * *

Consciousness brought with it an immense pain, both in Nadiya’s chest and her brain. Black spots filled the edge of her vision, her ears rang intensely, every single muscle in her body ached. Her mind still raced faster than she could understand…

“What the _fuck?!”_

The question was directed at no one in particular. She sat up, hyperventilation steadily slowing down as her senses came back to her. Nadiya held her hand to her chest, feeling each and every breath as her heart beat through her armor.

“You’re alive!” she heard. Her eyesight snapped back into focus, revealing Bluejay hovering just in front of her face. The ghost seemed pleased enough, but hovered so close to her she couldn’t budge without hitting the poor thing.

“Yeah,” she breathed. She still had tunnel vision, and her ears felt… fuzzy. The ringing was still there, as if the world was muffled. “Am I okay though?”

“Still recovering,” Bluejay said. “I’ve brought you back, but left the concussion. I’m speaking to you telepathically.”

That explained the headache. “Why, buddy?”

“Because bringing you back all at once here would be a bit disorienting.” The ghost spun around, his movement urgent. “But the others kinda need you.”

The others. Brand. Who’d gotten her killed. She thought?

“Shit.” Nadiya pressed a hand to her temple. “Get it over with. And get my helmet back on.”

“Okay. Didn’t want to suffocate you. Figuratively.” Bluejay spun some wires of light over her head, enclosing it in the pressurized suit once more. “Just warning you, it’s kind of a mess.”

“Do it.”

“Three. Two. One-”

The din of battle immediately overwhelmed Nadiya’s senses. The high pitched whines of wire rifle fire accompanied by the low bass of booming shrapnel launchers and thundering machinegun fire.

The latter belonged to Lee-4, who was crouched behind cover just to Nadiya’s right. She had braced a heavy machinegun against the waist-high wall, blasting away with staccato precision. Shell casings ejected away from the two Hunters, creating a shower of scorching metal to their right.

“Hey.”

Lee did a double take at the newly resurrected Gunslinger. “Hey? That’s all you got?”

“Sorry.” Nadiya got to her knees, finding her scout rifle in hand. She could practically feel the Fallen weaponry whizzing above her head, just a few inches from being exposed. “How long have I been out?”

“A couple minutes. I dragged you here after Les rezzed me.” Lee was shouting above her gunfire, but she sounded strangely calm. “Your ghost struggled with the process.”

Bluejay beeped with agitation. “It was my first time! Initial resurrection is extremely different practically speaking.”

The words bounced off Lee. “You good to fight?”

Nadiya stretched her arms as much as she could while staying hidden, searching for any remaining aches in her body. “Yeah. Guess so.” Though she couldn’t take her eyes off the veteran Hunter. “Lee. Are we cool?”

The Arcstrider hazarded a brief glance over. Her eyes narrowed. “We get out of here alive? We’ll be more than _cool_.”

Nadiya nodded, gripped her Armillary tight, and peeked over cover.

The bridge was chaos. To the Hunters’ left was what must’ve been the entrance, which had been obliterated. Brand’s Nova Bomb had torn out the door, the entire threshold really, and left behind an indoor crater that still glowed with a faint purple haze. The Fallen that swarmed the entire room seemed to gingerly avoid that area. No questioning why.

Besides that, the rest of the room was entirely Scar territory. Dregs, vandals, captains, shanks, of normal rank and reaver alike. They’d kicked the hornet’s nest, and while a sizable amount of the Fallen were focused on Lee and Nadiya, many more looked around frantically, searching for a target that wasn’t there.

That included the towering figure of what Nadiya presumed was Taniks. The high baron stood a few feet taller than any other Fallen she’d seen, while atop a perched catwalk that could survey the entire room from the center. He gripped a massive cannon in three of his spindly arms, while his last held a body in place across his shoulder. Like a sack of potatoes.

A Guardian.

“Lee, where’s Brand?” Nadiya yelled above the chaos, repositioning her aim to start countering some of the Fallen who’d exposed themselves. “And what the hell was his plan?”

“Don’t have either answer,” the Arcstrider responded. She ducked behind cover to load another massive drum of arc ammunition into her heavy weapon.

“So what’s _our_ plan?” Nadiya asked. Best not to give any suggestions. What she presumed was Royce’s body seemed miles away in the clutch of the Scar leader. No sign of Morgan, either. ‘Busting in there and raising hell’ didn’t seem viable.

There was a beat where Lee had no answer. “Hold out here. Les said Brand never died. Even after creating a vortex that large. The Warlock’s got his own plan.”

“Apologies for not cueing you in.” The voice was unquestionably Brand’s, though filtered and disembodied. “The void speaks with me on its own terms. I am merely a conduit. There was no time to explain.”

“Voidwalker!” Lee’s voice definitely felt more aggressive when interrupted by her trigger pulls. “What was that stunt you pulled back there?”

“And where are you?” Nadiya followed up.

“Patience, friends. The void answers to no one. But it does offer an olive branch every so often. A weapon, perhaps knowledge. Or a path to your objective.”

As suddenly as his voice had arrived, Brand’s figure blinked back into existence. He was suspended above Taniks, momentum carrying him towards the high baron with alarming speed. Taniks had no time to react before the Warlock crashed into him, palm extended before him.

That palm was wrapped in the purple tendrils of the void, delivering the brunt of the impact’s force. Taniks roared with pain, the collision driven by something truly out of this world. He was knocked back, first by the void strike, then by Brand’s feet as the Warlock kicked off the baron’s chest. Brand’s dark robes vanished from existence as he blinked away, careening over the Fallen below in another material plane.

“Now, Morgan!” the Voidwalker shouted from beyond. “Hunters! Cover her!”

While Brand made it to safety, Nadiya refocused on the baron. The impact had left Taniks doubled over, a mark infecting his abdomen’s armor with remnants of void. More importantly, Brand’s strike had released Royce’s dead body.

The Titan’s figure had collapsed onto the floor below Taniks’s catwalk, scattering some nearby Fallen in surprise. The tiny figure of his ghost appeared above him, attaching beams of energy to her dead partner.

“Lee! Focus fire!” Nadiya yelled.

The two Hunters rang out volleys of shots on any Fallen on Royce’s perimeter. Nadiya’s Armillary made satisfying plinks one after another, bullets finding any stray dregs or vandals who’d turned their attention towards the exposed ghost. And as accurate as Lee was, the hammering cracks of her machinegun did more to suppress the Fallen, sending them for cover in fear.

It was the perfect disrupting combination. Before long, the space directly beneath the reeling baron was cleared of Fallen. Just in time for an excited “Yes!” to rally through their comm channels from Morgan.

“Royce! Ward!”

The Titan, barely conscious, instantly cast forward a giant bubble of void Light. The Ward of Dawn glowed with power, its borders shimmering with otherworldly energy. At the center was Royce, metallic pink armor glistening after Morgan’s repairing. He held out his arms, holding the Ward up with every ounce of his strength.

The giant bubble of Light naturally drew fire from every Fallen in the bridge. “Guardians! Converge on me!” he shouted, feet slipping as he lost his balance. Every impact from each Scar’s weapon seemed to whittle him down little by little.

Lee and Nadiya vaulted over their cover, sprinting towards the Ward of Dawn. They were easily able to make it to the bubble, the Fallen’s attention having shifted from shooting at two measly Hunters. Brand blinked back into existence to their left, sprinting into the Ward as well.

Nadiya slid through the barrier of Light, instantly feeling reenergized. Within the Ward of Dawn, she could feel her muscles pulsing. A faint glow appeared over each of the Guardians, an extra layer of armor woven from Royce’s void Light.

“Thanks for the rescue,” the Titan greeted them, still struggling to keep the bubble up. “Name’s Royce. Son of Mars.”

“No time for pleasantries, I’m afraid,” Brand noted, his Tlaloc appearing in hand.

“Okay. Nice to meet you too,” the Defender grunted. “You got a sitrep?”

“You’re looking at it,” Lee said. “Fallen all around us, a high baron with two confirmed Guardian kills-”

“Two? Shit.” Royce’s voice was too strained from effort to grieve. “What happened to Yvette?”

“I recovered her body. But we ought to explain later, Guardian,” Morgan said. “You can’t keep this up for too much longer. Our Light’s already strained.”

“Okay. Fine. Plan?”

“We need to evacuate immediately. This ketch is already out of Chicago’s airspace, and we’ve got another Guardian and some refugees waiting at O’Hare. Apparently without comms.”

Lee spoke remarkably calmly. Nadiya could barely focus with all the shots vanishing on impact against the Ward. Though they were safe inside here, the gleam of the barrier was fading. Some holes in the bubble appeared for split seconds as Royce’s Light shifted rapidly to cover up vacancies. The Fallen were breaking through.

“Well, what’s our way out?” the Titan questioned.

“The windows,” Brand responded.

The free Guardians turned to look past Taniks’s catwalk to see the great glass openings showing the way forward. The bridge rested atop the front of the ketch, its ceiling-to-floor windows normally used for navigation. Within Earth’s atmosphere, that wasn’t necessary, and impossible at the moment as the Kaliks-Syn flew through thick cloud cover.

Brand continued with the matter-of-fact manner of someone explaining a recipe for cake. “We break through and leap to the ground below. From our angle we won’t be sucked into the ketch’s turbines, so it will be a relatively painless death.”

“Preceded by falling ten thousand feet to the ground,” Nadiya noted.

“Is death still a problem for you?” Lee growled.

“No. No. It wasn’t that bad. I just want to know what I’m in for,” the Gunslinger stammered, before turning to Brand. “I can handle falling. I think. Especially _with_ warning.”

The Astrocyte Verse was the usual blank slate of emotion. “If you’re referring to my initial Nova Bomb, it was more than necessary. The Fallen had encroached on the entrance thanks to your boisterous argument, waiting to ensnare us as soon as we entered. I reclaimed the element of surprise.”

“And sent me into another world in the process!”

Brand inched forward with curiosity. “Do tell, Awoken. Once we’re out of this mortal quandary, that is.”

Nadiya bit her lip. She hadn’t meant to entertain his scientific ventures at the moment. Though even Brand seemed to recognize they were short on time.

“I’m slipping!” Royce shouted, his arms wavering as he gave the Ward all the strength he could muster. “I’m not making it fifty feet to that window if I hold on much longer!”

“Not with all these Fallen,” Lee agreed. She bent her knees, spinning her Arc Staff into crackling existence behind her. “Fireteam, form up on me. Let’s clear the way.”

Nadiya swapped her scout for her Strongbow-D. Brand-13 held a charge of void in one hand, his Tlaloc in the other. And Royce’s arms finally gave out, a submachinegun appearing in his grip.

The Ward came down around them, and the Fallen pounced.


	9. Chapter 9

In whatever realm of death Nadiya had just escaped form, she’d felt truly overwhelmed for the first time in her life. The nothingness had pressed on her from all sides, pressuring her very spirit. It was incomprehensible, except for that instinctual feeling of dread.

The Fallen, she could comprehend. They were a physical threat, one that could be poked, prodded, and dismantled. Living beings, flesh and blood, just like her. A handful of bullets, and a Scar was cut away.

Yet, they overwhelmed her just the same. Because there were _so damn many of them._

The second the Ward of Dawn’s barrier had faded from existence, legions of Fallen pressed on the four Guardians. Dregs with small knives, vandals with swords and spears. All the while, their superiors rained fire on them from behind.

Lee-4 led the way, dancing and dodging with Arc Staff in hand. The pole disintegrated dregs at the touch, their bodies fading away under the raw power of unrestrained electricity. She cut through swathes of Fallen, carving a path towards the bridge’s window.

But the path she created was like a knife dragging through water. The Fallen filled in behind her, leaving the other three surrounded even as they pressed forward. The Scars were throwing themselves at them, the glory of killing a Guardian enough incentive to gamble your life away.

The Guardians wouldn’t make it easy for them. Royce’s Light was momentarily drained, but his Antiope-D still worked. The weapon railed against the encroaching Fallen, tearing limbs from dregs (an all too familiar experience for the poor things). A lone vandal approached the Defender, only to have its skull caved in under the blunt force of the Titan’s fist. Royce grunted as he worked, slapping aside dregs as he ejected a magazine from his SMG, jamming the spent cartridge into a shank’s side.

Brand-13 fought predictably more elegantly. At such short range, his Tlaloc was hard to maneuver, thus the Warlock bought himself some space to work with using a flick of the wrist. Out went a spiral of void, collapsing against a reaver vandal’s chest before opening into a vortex of Light. The grenade swallowed Fallen whole, their remains ribboning for a moment before exploding in a chain reaction. This opened the path for the Guardians to rejoin Lee, ascending a small staircase towards the elevated front of the bridge.

Nadiya covered their six, levying Fallen with her Strongbow-D. The shotgun discharged arc buckshot, enough to fell dregs and vandals in one trigger pull. A larger captain rushed towards her though, charged swords in each of its four hands. Nadiya fired from the hip, the shotgun’s elemental charge enough to shatter the captain’s shield in a blast of energy. The hulking Fallen stumbled to the ground, disoriented by the blow.

It was also the last shell loaded into her weapon. She paused to load a few more, each cartridge appearing magically between her fingers courtesy of Bluejay. A lone dreg interrupted her, earning a bashing from the butt of the Strongbow.

The captain shrugged off its weakness, before leaping back at the Gunslinger. Nadiya pumped to eject the last empty casing, before shooting one of the fresh cartridges. The pellets crashed into the captain’s armored head, but their overwhelming force was enough to shatter its head into pieces.

Nadiya dodged backward as the captain’s lifeless body collapsed at her feet, ether pouring out with the strength of a faucet. The larger Fallen were, the more ether they seemed to spill when ruptured. The Gunslinger swiped away a dreg with her knife, slashing its neck to release a pitiful amount of the substance.

If ether was a measure of a Fallen’s strength, then Taniks must’ve been overflowing with the stuff. Nadiya noticed him watching, standing atop his catwalk with scorch cannon raised. The beast’s eyes were narrow, aiming at the Guardians, waiting for the perfect shot. There was no mistaking that his demeanor had shifted, though. The cavity in his chest ate away at him, Brand’s handiwork leaving the baron crippled.

The bastard was watching them, studying them even, as they made their exit. What was it waiting for? Or was it surrendering, letting its underlings throw themselves at the Guardians to no avail. What sick game was the murderer playing?

It didn’t matter to Nadiya. It didn’t matter that he was a Guardian killer, that he had two ghost cores hanging from his belt. She could spare no emotion under these many threats. And he was the ringleader of it all.

He had to die.

A lapse in the Fallen approaching the Guardians’ back gave Nadiya the opportunity to stow her shotgun. She cast her Golden Gun, the warmth of her solar Light instantly enveloping her. What Fallen had been rushing her now hesitated at the sight. In this state, a Hunter’s looks could kill.

And thus, her eyes were trained on the high baron. She fired, a beam of fire striking Taniks just as he moved to return the favor. The scorch cannon erupted, its projectile heading straight for Nadiya as she shifted her aim…

Her second Golden Gun shot collided with the lobbed flame in midair. The two projectiles exploded against each other, a rivalry between unstoppable forces. They released a wave of fire followed by a heavy concussive blast.

Nadiya was thrown from her feet, losing control of her solar Light as she slammed against the metal floor. Though her Light had burnt to cinders, she felt fine. She hadn’t let the Light overwhelm her, instead letting it dissipate naturally when she began to feel it slip.

Though she barely had time to relish her improvement. A captain leapt towards her, somehow disciplined enough to have maintained balance through the shockwave. Her armor was plated with shinier metals, her coat and cape ruffled with fur and stronger threads. This captain wasn’t a high baron, but she looked to be the next best thing aboard this ketch.

The captain grabbed Nadiya by the chest, spindly claws carving through her white armor. Her grip made Nadiya grunt in pain, feeling blood seep out from her sullied garments. The reaver captain’s eyes narrowed as she muttered something in Errata.

Behind her helm, Nadiya met the captain’s gaze, all the while gritting her teeth in pain. She felt helpless for the briefest of moments as pain flared from her chest, before she felt a familiar hilt appear in her right hand.

Her instinct seemed to do the heavy lifting for her inexperience. She jabbed the fiery knife into the right side of the captain’s face. The flaming blade made a satisfying plunge, causing the Scar to wail in pain. Her grip loosened enough for Nadiya to squirm away, backing up as she clutched her chest.

The adrenaline build up allowed her to scramble to her feet as the knife exploded in the captain’s face, sending her sprawling backward into the sea of Fallen who’d let their superior challenge the Hunter.

“It’s too safe to heal you here!” Bluejay shouted within her head. “But you’re all almost there!”

Nadiya summoned her Strongbow once more as she turned back to the Guardians behind her. Lee had reached the window, and was now picking off encroaching Fallen with her sniper. Along the staircase were Royce and Brand, who’d left a trail of Scars behind them. They stemmed the flow of Fallen, leaving a short path for Nadiya to stumble up.

“Come on Gunslinger! We’re leaving!” Lee said, having to use ghost comms to keep her voice above the din of battle.

Nadiya walked forward, sending out a few pumps of arc energy at some struggling vandals. The Fallen here seemed maimed at this point, and though there were plenty left to fight, they’d lost their momentum. Crawling over the bodies of your dead brethren must’ve been a harrowing thing to fight through. But still, they came.

And at the head of it all was Taniks, who was practically in a stupor. The baron rested on one knee atop his catwalk overlook, all four hands clutched over his chest. He wasn’t dead, but there was no mistaking the flood of ether leaking out of him. A servitor rested next to him, a purple beam of energy threaded between them.

The Fallen healed from ether just as Guardians healed from Light, it seemed. The process was slower, though, and Taniks could barely muster the effort to stare down the escaping Guardians. Though Nadiya couldn’t quite read Eliksni facial expression, the scowl he wore bore a level of agony she could almost empathize.

Taniks roared with excruciating pain. The waves of Fallen that hurried through the bridge’s entrances reminded her why she _shouldn’t_ empathize with the baron. As many Fallen as they’d put down, the reinforcements seemed to refill the room entirely. How many of these things were aboard the ketch?

“Shouldn’t we finish him off?” Nadiya asked as she backpedaled into the group’s phalanx. “Don’t the Fallen fall into disarray without a leader?”

“How much ammo do you have left?” Royce rebutted, swinging a massive rocket launcher towards the thick glass behind them. “I already learned my lesson. We’re not making a stand against this bastard.”

The Titan squeezed the trigger, blasting the window to pieces. Nadiya held up her arm, protecting her head from the wave of smoke and shattered glass. The mass of Fallen behind them roared louder than Royce’s launcher could ever hope to.

Brand placed a gloved hand on her shoulder. “He’s a mere cog in the wheel. Fallen come to power, then they fulfill their namesake. If we chase revenge, we fall into their schemes.”

Nadiya focused once more on Taniks’s belt, the eyes of two ghosts blank. Dead. Gone. What use was killing him if Bluejay suffered the same fate?

“Okay,” she replied. That feeling she’d tried to suppress, the angry bubbling fire of a lust for revenge, it had clawed its way back into her chest. She’d started the job, left the baron doubled over, licking his wounds. Why not finish it?

But maybe that sensation was just the sting of her open wounds. Revenge had gotten Yvette killed. It wasn’t worth dying over.

Nadiya stepped through the window behind the other Guardians. Out here, the wind threatened to pull her back into the Kaliks-Syn. Her cloak, emblazoned with the aspect of blood, was strained at the edges, neglecting to tear only because of some vague space magic. Nadiya didn’t understand it.

What she did understand was the massive drop to the ground. Each step towards the edge was a laborious effort, her feet planted as hard as possible to not get swept away. The other Guardians approached the edge.

“We jump together!” Lee shouted. “We land together, we head straight back for O’Hare! On three!”

“Y’know, I want you to enjoy the way down, but you’re losing a lot of blood,” Bluejay told Nadiya. “It might be easier to just, plummet.”

“One!”

Nadiya looked over the edge at the northern suburbs of Chicago. The ketch was still moving slow, relative for a spaceship at least. Was it waiting for something?

Regardless, the ground below was barely perceptible as reality. “I’m going to assume splattering against pavement is more painful than being consumed by the void?” Nadiya guessed.

“Thankfully, I’ve never had the displeasure of dying,” Bluejay replied, “Though that’s probably a safe bet.”

“Two!”

“I can stop your heart manually. Shut down your brain functions,” the ghost continued. “It’ll be painless.”

Nadiya thought back to that realm beyond death, how terrified she’d been. It had been the most uncomfortable experience she’d had as a Guardian. But she was going back there right now, one way or the other. Might as well get used to it.

“Three!” Lee jumped forward, clearing the curved edge of the Kaliks-Syn and flying towards the ground below. Royce, Brand, and Nadiya followed suit almost immediately.

Even beneath her helmet, Nadiya was astonished by the rush of air. From thousands of feet up, there was a ridiculous amount of friction before she hit terminal velocity. A dragging of her cloak that made her anxious. The rapidly shrinking ketch above them that made her nerves clench up moreso.

“Okay, Bluejay!” she yelled, unable to hide her fear. “Do your thing!”

The buildings below were still specks by the time Nadiya felt her vision fade. And then she was gone, like the switch of a light.

* * *

Nadiya gasped for air, clutching her chest instinctively. Around her was a heavy cloud of dust, thankfully obscured from her lungs thanks to her armor.

This was… real? Not that nothingness from before, but life as she’d come to know it. Like last resurrection, every muscle in her body ached immensely. But she hadn’t expected to be here, _alive,_ so quickly.

“Guardian! Welcome back!” It was Bluejay, shell twirling with glee in front of her. His dark blue half was coated in dust. “You should definitely be glad we went with my plan.”

“I can see that,” Nadiya replied. She’d landed in a townhouse, and judging from the open space above her, had flattened her way through the roof and second floor. Light shone through the two-story gap above her, reflecting off the wood dust she’d created on impact. It was, frankly, a mess.

Not that the house had been spick and span before this. The tiled floor was overgrown with ferns and moss that had grown in from the windows. Years of rising and falling swamp water had stripped away the drywall’s paint, leaving an eroded brown look to the building. An unfortunate byproduct of nature’s slow reclamation of the abandoned creations of humanity.

Nadiya started to her feet, flexing her muscles one by one to check for imperfections. Bluejay’d done stellar work again. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. That something was missing.

It had been the nothing.

“What’s wrong, Guardian?” Bluejay had shaken off some of the dust, his bright blue eye narrowed curiously. “Did I mess things up? Your body was practically turned to jelly on impact, so if I messed up the reconstruction-”

“No, no, you did great,” Nadiya said hurriedly. She removed her helmet manually now that the dust from her impact had cleared, shaking out her hair. All she could offer her ghost was a reassuring smile. “It’s nothing.”

Bluejay shrugged and turned, unaware of the double entendre. “Well, the others all crash-landed in close proximity. Ghost signals have all matched up with a cul de sac just down the road from here. I, uh, I was the last to rez you.”

This time Nadiya’s smile was genuine. She patted her ghost lightly, starting after it. “Trust me. I’d rather you took your time putting me back together.”

Bluejay led her out of the townhome’s entrance, which was so overgrown with vines that Nadiya had to slice through some with her knife. Outdoors, what had once been a neighborhood was almost indistinguishable from a forest. The swamp had reclaimed this subdivision entirely, with murky water resting a few steps off the rotting porch.

“Best to just take your sparrow. Otherwise you’ll be getting your feet wet,” Bluejay said.

The ghost summoned the speeder right there, hovering above the flooded street. But Nadiya’s attention had shifted to the Kaliks-Syn, still visible as it flew north a few miles to their right.

“They didn’t stop us?” Nadiya asked, not really expecting an answer.

Which was good, since Bluejay certainly didn’t have one. “There haven’t been skiffs searching the area. But they could be cloaked. So… I don’t know.”

Nadiya pursed her lips before clambering onto the sparrow. Bluejay sped around her back, resting above her shoulder. “Whatever the Scars are up to, we’ve gotta focus on why we jumped off that ketch in the first place: getting you home, safe and sound.”

The Hunter fiddled with the clutch on the hoverbike. “As far as I remember, I’m the one who did the jumping. You don’t have legs, or a body to break.”

“I’m the one who had to see your mangled corpse!” Bluejay protested. “The only reason I didn’t lose my stomach was that I don’t have one.”

“Fair.” Nadiya kicked the sparrow into action and sped off to the south, following Bluejay’s directions. The rest of the Guardians were parked only a minute away, resting on their own sparrows above the swampland.

“Nadiya,” Royce greeted her. “Did you stick the landing?”

The Gunslinger drifted towards a slow stop. “No. How do you know my name?”

Royce removed his pink helmet, revealing a scruffy beard and soft brown eyes that matched his dark skin. “The Voidwalker deemed it ‘permissible’ to spend time on introductions now that we’re out of the frying pan.”

“I apologize for being somewhat rude aboard the ketch,” Brand retorted, face hidden by the Astrocyte Verse per usual. “I believe the close call we just experienced would put to rest any theories that I was being overly strict.”

The Titan shook his head, stifling a laugh. “A guy tries to say hello to his rescuers, and apparently that’s a sin.”

“We needed to keep it professional. Your fireteam had already suffered heavy losses.”

“I’m aware.” Royce had tensed up, whatever jokey demeanor he’d put on instinctively fading away once more.

He turned back to the Gunslinger, though, wearing a more earnest expression. “Thank you, though. Brand explained to me your predicament… Arriving with refugees, and so soon taking on such high stakes. Morgan and I owe you as much as Brand and Lee. I appreciate it.”

Nadiya nodded uncomfortably, inching her sparrow towards the Titan’s. She extended a hand, which Royce promptly crushed in his grip. “Thank you. Really, I was just along for the ride. I just wish we could’ve saved the others as well.”

Royce frowned, shaking his head. “I didn’t know Yvette or Jacobsen well. But they were good Guardians. Good people. That’s war, I guess. Yvette and I just got overambitious, overly angry. Sometimes you just bite off more than you can chew, and the consequences are…” He waved a hand in a circle, searching for an impossible closing. Words couldn’t do it justice.

Two more Guardians dead. Nadiya had barely been alive, but the memory of slaying Bruce weighed on her like a ton of bricks sometimes. She couldn’t imagine what these three Guardians had seen, had been through, if this had seemed routine. Somehow all of the Fallen deaths seemed impossibly large when compared to the few Guardians she’d known. How many Fallen were there on Earth if they could lose _that many soldiers_ and be fine?

How absolutely _screwed_ was humanity against a force that wide?

Royce sensed her discomfort and gave a knowing thumbs up. A gesture that seemed reductionist and immature at the moment, but he wore a look of such sincerity. Was this what it was to be a Guardian? Completely surrounded by death, and having to be unaffected by that emotional weight?

Why was she still asking herself that question when she knew it to be true?

So she returned the thumbs up, trying to be inconspicuous with her frustrated exhale. Perhaps that awful reality was all there was to be a Guardian. To overlook the deaths of your brethren, not because you were heartless, but because it’d break your heart if you didn’t.

That sounded a lot like her shitty justifications for killing Bruce. For trying to distance herself from the refugees. It didn’t sound like life.

_That’s war, I guess._

There was a beat of uncomfortable silence before Lee finally spoke up. “I’ve been trying to contact Arno to no avail. If you all don’t mind, I suggest we get a move on back to O’Hare.”

Brand made an affirming grunt. “I don’t believe there to be anything else of note here. The House of Scar are on their way north. Let’s appreciate the respite while we can.”

The Guardians replaced their helmets if necessary, not wanting to be stung by the friction of high speeds. Besides Nadiya, their ghosts marked waypoints on their heads-up displays charting the fastest way back to O’Hare through Old Chicago’s ruined suburbs. The Gunslinger’s helmet wasn’t quite up to spec for that feature.

And thus, the fireteam kicked off into speed. Nadiya took one last glance at the ketch looming in the distance, leaving a trail of smoke behind its engines. She still felt… hollow.

“C’mon, Guardian,” Bluejay encouraged her, “Let’s get you home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always for reading! The last chapter of These Mortal Quandaries will be tying up a lot of threads at once, so I might take longer than a week to write it (especially as I'm going through a move in the next few days). In the meantime I'll be posting a one-shot set during Season of Arrivals that I wrote back in June. I'll be back with the conclusion to TMQ soon, appreciate y'all's time!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! Been much busier with college than I expected so I haven't had the drive to write in my free time, but I've finally polished up the last chapter here. Hope you enjoy it!
> 
> The next story in the series will be called 'A Crow Looked At Me'. It'll be much shorter than the previous two, and I'll be working on it slow and steady here. Hope to have it out soon. Thanks to everyone who's been reading, I appreciate your time and your feedback!

“Arno? Come in, Arno?”

Lee-4’s commanding voice was uncharacteristically tinged with worry. Nadiya could pick up on _that_ much through the communication filter. There’d been ample time on the ride back to O’Hare for Bluejay to naturally complete the neural link to his Guardian, so there was thankfully no static.

But maybe Nadiya would’ve preferred a little fuzz on the radio. Hearing Lee’s uncertainty only doubled the Gunslinger’s own nerves.

“Arno, do you copy? We are one minute out from the terminal. Please come in!” The last sentence had traded nerves for downright fear.

The Arcstrider’s sparrow vanished from beneath her, her legs easily catching the tarmac as she sprinted towards the exterior staircase. They’d arrived back where they’d started at last, the mood no less dour. Nadiya had come here in search of a way home. For all the fighting they’d done in Chicago, she felt no closer.

Nadiya, Royce, and Brand bounded off their sparrows in pursuit of their leader. Lee was already halfway up the stairs, with no signs of slowing down. “C’mon,” Bruce said, “Be ready for anything.”

Once inside the terminal, the fireteam drew their weapons. Lee had slowed up, gripping her hand cannon tight with both hands above her shoulder. It was eerily quiet, no signs of the almost-dozen people that ought to be just up ahead.

“I’m not sensing any life forms,” Bluejay noted within Nadiya’s head.

She shifted her grip on her shotgun. “Maybe they moved?”

It felt like a fruitless suggestion, and that was confirmed only a few moments later at Lee’s soft gasp. Coming into view around a corner was a body, strewn out on the ground. One of the refugees.

Nadiya felt a sharp pang of grief in her chest, more than she’d felt before. Either when Bruce died, or when they’d lost a few travelers on the road to Chicago. This wasn’t on her watch, or her doing. But it hurt more… She hadn’t been there.

The pain only grew as her eyes trailed forward, realizing the gravity of the situation. The concourse was littered with the bodies of the refugees. Tom laid in the center of it all, hands still clasped uselessly to his rifle.

“Blood’s dark,” Brand said. “This happened a while ago.”

The momentary shock left the rest of the group in silence. Nadiya couldn’t stop staring at the bodies. Lifeless. All of them. All these people she’d brought here, just trying to keep them safe. She’d led them to this point. She had-

“Shit!” The Hunter’s train of thought was cut short by Royce, who’d walked past the initial group of bodies. There were dead Fallen all around, Scars no doubt. Most riddled with bullet holes, ether pools in place of scarlet blood. A few who seemed to have died in stranger ways, their cloth charged into rigid positions.

But further beyond that was the cause of Royce’s exclamation. It was Arno’s body, propped up against the wall. His face was charred beyond recognition, but the seared armor made it no question as to his identity.

Not to mention the shards of Emile scattered in his open palm. The ghost’s core was nowhere to be seen.

“He’s gone,” Lee mumbled. What little authority she’d ever seemed to project was wholly absent.

The four Guardians stood amidst a graveyard. Nadiya closed her eyes, unable to break her focus from the pain in her torso. This was all her fault. How could it not be?

The silence seemed to last forever.

* * *

Nadiya stared into the fire. It was what little memorial they had for the lives lost. No effigy, no caskets, no spoken memories. She’d known the refugees the longest, and what positives could she say of them? That they existed? That they were people? These things didn’t need to be spoken, and if they had been, would only expose how little she’d tried to appreciate them.

So, she sat on the tarmac, staring into the dancing flame. Searching for some sign. The fire that burned inside her manifested as something incredibly powerful, but she found no power in this natural flame. It simply burned away, unaware of its significance. The fire didn’t care about her woes.

“You mind if I join you?” It was Royce, standing above her. Titans weren’t supposed to be able to sneak up on Hunters like that, but her he was… At least she had the excuse of her mind wandering. What little good that did.

Nadiya nodded shortly, turning back to the fire. The Titan sunk down on her right, folding his legs. For a while, nothing but a frustrated sigh broke through the crackle of the fire. Nadiya couldn’t tell if she preferred it that way.

“Jumpship’s ready to go. I don’t think it’ll break orbit, but it’ll get us back to the City.” Royce spoke softly, as if Nadiya were a startled animal. “At least that’s what Brand says. Dude won’t stop flinging techno jargon at me that even Morgan has to think twice about.”

All the Hunter could muster was a small grunt of acknowledgement. Though she felt Bruce’s gaze upon her. Not in a threatening way, but maybe… pity? Something she didn’t need.

She didn’t think so, anyway. Bluejay’d been off working on repairs for the majority of the past week to get the Guardians home as soon as possible. And when he _was_ with her, all he could say just felt… patronizing. Her ghost was the only true friend she’d had since her resurrection, he didn’t know how to comfort her. To be fair, neither did she. But she’d kind of relished the time apart.

The only way she’d found to grieve was this impromptu fire. She’d kept it burning for four days now, spurring it on with flashes of her solar Light whenever it seemed to dim. What little sleep she’d gotten was right here next to it, nothing separating her and the stars above. Nothing to do except keep this useless memorial alive as long as she could.

“Look, I, uh…” Royce put his hands together, searching for the right words. “I know what you’re feeling. As little as you may believe that. I’ve been doing this a long time, so I know. I get it.”

Nadiya kept her eyes on the fire.

“There’s nothing I can say to make this better. It doesn’t get better.”

Royce exhaled deeply, turning towards Nadiya earnestly. “This job… We do the best we can. You try to save everyone and everything you can. But you can’t save everyone. And eventually you come to terms with it.”

Nadiya sighed. “So I’m just supposed to get used to this? To failure?”

“I mean, yeah. We’re built to take as many failures as necessary. Every death, that’s a failure in a way. That’s what our ghosts are for.”

The Gunslinger snorted. “All this time, I was terrified of dying. Terrified. And it wasn’t that bad. I led these people. I brought them from a bad situation to a worse one. That’s on me. And Bluejay can’t fix that.”

“No, he can’t.” Royce took a beat as he thought. “That’s just how this is. We have to be the best we can be, because we’re responsible for other people’s lives. Directly or indirectly.

“But you know what? The Traveler chose us, because somehow it knew that _we_ can take it. We can deal with those losses, and push forward anyways. That’s something that all of these people – the refugees you brought, all the people back in the City – that’s what they expect from us. For us to pick up that load.”

“Our ghosts give us these powers,” Nadiya responded, “And I don’t know about Morgan, but Bluejay… He went on and on about how I’d been given this opportunity. To be a hero, to be something special. And it doesn’t feel like that at all. When I was rezzed, this other Risen… I don’t know if you know him, Bruce…”

“I do,” Royce interrupted, “Brand said you killed him.”

“Yeah.” Nadiya swallowed. “He was awful. Abusive, manipulative, taking advantage of everyone under his protection. But he said things like, like this was all a burden. Like the Traveler was taking advantage of us. That we have to bear the brunt of this load, and that we shouldn’t have to.”

Royce hummed in acknowledgement. “I mean. He’s right. In a way.” The Titan drummed his fingers against his leg. “Sometimes it doesn’t feel fair that we’re the torch-bearers. I mean, that thing is a god, or something. I don’t know what I believe. But I didn’t choose this life. Neither did you.

“But we do what we can with the hand we’re dealt. We fight on, because we have to. If not us, then who?”

His words hung in the air as the fire crackled on. Nadiya pursed her lips.

“Some of us, like Brand I guess, they love this. They love every bit of it. And yeah, sometimes it’s fun. But if I could, I’d hang up my hat, and rest. I came here with two Guardians, and only I survived. Brand and Lee, they lost one of their own. Plus, you and your refugees. None of us were tight with each other, but it’s still a lot to deal with.

“You have to keep going. You can’t save everyone. You just have to get used to it.”

“That’s morbid.”

“Billions of people died during the Collapse. Millions more after. Thousands of Guardians. But you can’t give in. You have to keep fighting. That’s what being a Guardian is.” Royce opened his palm, traces of void flicking off of it. Compared to Brand’s powers, his void tendrils seemed more rigid, more controlled. Orderly, like a Titan’s would be. “You are who you are. We have to take on that responsibility, because like I said, no one else will.”

Nadiya sighed once more, finally turning to the Titan with a tender look. “I just wish this didn’t hurt so much. I don’t know if I can lose like this again.”

“You will,” Royce replied. “And it’ll be awful each time. But the hurt shows you care. It shows that you know the gravity of all this. What your powers mean. We can do great things. Nothing good comes easy.”

The two sat in silence a while longer. The wind of Chicago had grown cold as the sun set, whittling down Nadiya’s eternal flame. For the first time in a few days, she didn’t feel obligated to keep it alive.

“With how long things have been like this…” Nadiya started, “Will things ever get better. To the way things were before the Collapse?”

“I don’t know,” Royce mumbled. “But we can try to make it so.”

The Titan stood up finally, creaking his back and offering a hand. “C’mon. Let’s get you to the Last City. There’s nothing left for us here.”

Nadiya took his hand, finally standing from her false responsibility. She was surprised she hadn’t left an imprint in the tarmac. But the Royce was right. She had to get better at this. If she didn’t… Bluejay had made the wrong choice.

The Gunslinger took one last look at the waning fire, before turning on it for good.

* * *

Beneath the muzzle, Taniks’s breathing was short and raspy. His eyes were blindfolded, his arms bound behind his back. And this long without ether had left him powerless to fight back.

Thus, the world around him was dark. All he heard was the sound of his own breathing, which was dangerously close to choking on his own dry throat. All he felt is the occasional prodding in the back, arc-tipped spears commanding him to walk faster.

That was more of an effort than he’d ever known. His legs felt frail, depleted of strength from malnourishment and lack of use. The high baron’s best guess was a week of time in an isolated cell, only to now be dragged out of confinement. Though it was hard to tell how many days had passed with no routine.

An especially strong jab sent Taniks to the ground, collapsing forward on his chest. It knocked what little breath there was out of him. Two sharp clawed hands dug into his shoulders, pulling him up to his knees.

At long last, the bag over his head was untied and torn away. Taniks’s eyes had to adjust for a second, but the apparent silence didn’t change. Just his own struggled breathing. But he didn’t panic. He’d been molded not to.

It was hard to feign comfortability at the moment, though. As his vision cleared, Taniks’s heart sunk. He expected the worst after being treated like a dog, but this was spelling his doom. Massive hall, carpeted floors, regal banners… he was aboard the House of Scar kelship.

And to confirm it was Dorxis, lounging on his throne. The kell stared daggers at his baron, piercing eyes showing no emotion. Normally, Dorxis stood a few feet taller than Taniks – ether rations and all – but in the baron’s state, the difference was astronomical.

The fiddling claws of a reaver undid the latch on Taniks’s muzzle, taking no care to be gentle. They left his arms bound, but the relief was already plenty. Taniks strained himself not to gasp for air, trying his best to not appear weak. In his state it was difficult, but he could still show pride. Even as a prisoner.

 _A prisoner._ How far had he fallen in such a short time? He was still in disbelief, riding off the high of two confirmed Guardian kills. That had been his accomplishment, so recently, and here he was, being treated like dirt. How dare they? They had to know what he was capable of!

Taniks stared up at his kell, searching for answers. Dorxis showed no emotion, matching the baron in these games of deceit. Politics, war, the Eliksni chiefdom. All things that required a mask, a fortitude that drew respect while neglecting to show your hand.

Taniks was all too aware that he’d shown his hand to the entire House.

“You did not answer my call to return to the Great White,” the kell spoke. His voice was deeper, more eloquent than Taniks’s, commanding much more power. From feeble-minded Fallen, perhaps. Those swayed by fancy words and promises of paradise. Those who refused to look at the state of their society, and realize those dreams were impossible.

“You hatched your own plans, conspiring to fill the vacuum of power in our House should I have fallen in battle, no?” Dorxis’s voice was tinged with a humor, enjoying this deriding of his underling. “And you thought to rest this plan’s integrity on those around you, thinking they’d be loyal to _you_ above their kell?”

Jorkas, he presumed. The captain was not here for this mockery of a trial, likely being commended for her work. Ratting on Taniks, surviving a direct attack from a Guardian… She had new scars to wear proudly, and renewed proof of her loyalty. The bitch.

“Answer.” Dorxis spoke calmly, but Taniks knew better. He’d heard that tone before. He knew his death was imminent. Why humor the bastard?

Their staring contest drew no results. “If you are too foolish, or perhaps too meek to provide an answer, then bow. Bow to your kell. Show your regret, and perhaps I shall grant you the benefit of the doubt.”

An empty promise. Taniks held his gaze. However weak his body, wobbling to keep balance on his bony knees, he refused to grant Dorxis the satisfaction. He had to know. He had to know how weak he’d let the House of Scar become, battered and beaten by the House of Winter, chased to the backwater regions of this planet. They rested on the same celestial body as the Great Machine, and made no move to capture it. Instead they hid, licking wounds that would never heal, biding their time for nothing to happen.

Dorxis was weak. He’d allowed this to happen. And now this cowardice had been allowed to fester throughout the entire House’s culture. How surprising it’d been that the Devils hadn’t killed him off. Their days were numbered already.

Taniks did not bow.

“Fine.” Dorxis rose from his throne, towering over his former vassal. “You sully our House’s name. Death is too honorable a punishment; you must live to suffer.”

The kell drew two hulking swords, charged with arc energy. He stepped towards Taniks, the smallest hint of contempt appearing on his face. “You may join those pathetic Exiles on Luna. I wish to never hear of you again.”

In a flash, his kell swung, lopping off all four of his arms at the joints. Taniks roared with pain, but he could never see more clearly, never had his resolve more strengthened.

The kell had to die. He had to know his weakness. He had to know his ineptitude.

And in that moment, Taniks knew he no longer had a House. And he’d never felt freer.


End file.
